Item number: A3537

Year: AD 1600-1900

Material: Bronze

Size: 15.9 x 13.7 x 1.7 mm

Weight: 2.55 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a copper fals that was likely struck in Central Asia.

On the obverse, the upper section bears an inscription in the Persian script resembling “بدر” (badr), meaning “full moon,” a term frequently used in Muslim personal names or honorifics. The central inscription remains uncertain, while the lower part is encircled by four four-pointed stars. The reverse carries the inscription “فلس” (fals), denoting the denomination. Surrounding the inscription is a double circular border, with the interspace filled with motifs resembling the spokes of a wheel.

The term “fals” derives from the Roman coin “follis,” originally a high-denomination copper coin, sometimes even plated with silver, which subsequently underwent significant debasement. Transmitted into the Arab world via the Byzantine Empire, the term became “fals,” generally designating small-denomination copper coinage. In various regions, related forms such as “fils,” “falus,” and “pūl” also emerged.

Persian-script Arabic calligraphy began to develop around the fourteenth century AD. After its diffusion into Central Asia, the contrasts of line thickness became more pronounced, and the style grew increasingly decorative. According to archaeological evidence, coinage employing this Persian-script variant was chiefly issued by the Kokand Khanate, the Khwarazmian (Khiva) Khanate, and the Khanate of Bukhara.

During this period, in the southern steppe and oasis regions of Central Asia, the three Kazakh Jüzes (Uly Jüz, Orta Jüz, and Kishi Jüz), supported by their vast pastures and mobile cavalry, maintained relative independence on the steppe. They frequently raided southward into Khwarazm (the Khanate of Khiva) and the sedentary societies of Transoxiana, seizing wealth and livestock through plunder and warfare. Meanwhile, Khwarazm and the Khanate of Bukhara gradually consolidated authority in the oasis cities, relying on irrigated agriculture and Silk Road trade to sustain their regimes.

Bukhara, under the earlier Shaybanid dynasty and later the Astrakhanid (Ashtarkhanid) dynasty, became a centre of Islamic culture and scholarship, attracting scholars, artisans, and merchants from Persia and beyond. Samarkand competed with Bukhara for regional supremacy, while both powers continually adjusted their military strategies in response to the pressures exerted by the three Kazakh Jüzes. This produced a dynamic and shifting political landscape across Central Asia.

物件編號: A3537

年代: 公元 1600-1900 年

材質: 靑銅

尺寸: 15.9 x 13.7 x 1.7 mm

重量: 2.55 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能於中亞地區所造的法爾銅幣。

錢幣正面上方有錢文以波斯體書寫，形似「بدر」(badr)，為滿月之意，常見於穆斯林人名或稱號。中間錢文待考，下方有四顆四芒星環繞。錢幣背面錢文「فلس」(fals)，即「法爾」，標示幣名與面額。錢文外有雙環，環圈間有類似車輪的輻條紋飾。

「法爾」(fals)則源自羅馬帝國的貨幣「福利斯」(follis)，原為大面額銅幣，最初甚至有包銀。隨後逐漸貶值。後經東羅馬帝國傳入阿拉伯帝國，成為「法爾」(fals)，通常為小面額銅幣。在不同國家，可能還有「費爾」(fils)、「法盧斯」(falus)、「普爾」(pūl)等變體幣名。

波斯體阿拉伯書法於約公元十四世紀開始發展，傳播到中亞地區後，字體的粗細差異變大，更加的風格化。按出土紀錄，以該波斯體變體鐫刻的主要政權有浩罕汗國、花拉子模汗國、布哈拉汗國等。

這個時期，在中亞的南部草原與河中綠洲地帶，哈薩克汗國的三大玉茲(Uly Jüz、Orta Jüz、Kishi Jüz)憑藉廣闊的草場與機動的騎兵，在草原地帶保持相對獨立，時常南下與花剌子模(Khwarazm，即希瓦汗國，Khanate of Khiva)以及河中地區的定居社會發生衝突，透過劫掠或征戰奪取財富與牲畜。與此同時，花剌子模與布哈拉汗國(Khanate of Bukhara)逐步在綠洲城市建立權威，依賴灌溉農業與絲路商貿支撐政權。布哈拉在早先的昔班王朝(Shaybanid dynasty)，以及隨後的阿斯特拉罕王朝(Astrakhanid dynasty，也稱阿什塔爾汗王朝，Ashtarkhanid dynasty)統治下，成為伊斯蘭文化與學術的核心，吸引了來自波斯與更遠地區的學者、工匠與商人。撒馬爾罕與布哈拉爭奪區域霸權，並在與哈薩克三大玉茲的對抗中不斷調整軍事策略，形成動態且多變的政治生態。