Item number: A3634

Year: circa AD 712-751

Material: Copper

Size: 29.2 x 28.6 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 4.45 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin is a copper tetradrachm that was probably issued by the shah Kanika of the Khwarazm oasis region.

The coin is of comparatively large module, with its obverse and reverse designs nearly identical to those of the silver tetradrachm series. The obverse most likely depicts a right-facing bust of Kanika, wearing a turban-like headdress surmounted by a claw- or crescent-shaped ornament. Around the portrait runs a Khwarazmian legend, reading “𐾽𐿂𐾰𐾺 𐾽𐾼𐾻𐾰 𐾻𐾰𐾾𐾺𐾻” (MR’Y MLK’ k’nyk). The word “𐾽𐿂𐾰𐾺” (MR’Y) roughly means “lord” or “sovereign,” while “𐾽𐾼𐾻𐾰” (MLK’) signifies “supreme ruler.” The combination of the two, MR’Y MLK’, was a common royal title of the rulers of the Afrighid dynasty (AD 4th–8th centuries), approximately equivalent to the Persian designation shah (شاه‎). The element “𐾻𐾰𐾾𐾺𐾻” (k’nyk) may be rendered as “Kanika” or “Kanik”; its onomastic root possibly derives from the name of the great Kushan emperor Kanishka I. The outer margin of the coin is ornamented with a border of pellets. Shah Kanika is not recorded in the Persian accounts of the kings of Khwarazm; however, based on the archaeological evidence, his reign likely preceded that of Savashafan, who sent an embassy to the Tang court in AD 751.

The reverse probably shows a right-facing mounted figure, representing the ruler himself, wearing a headdress of the same type as on the obverse. In the upper left appears the Khwarazmian tribal emblem (tamga), which consists of a horizontally placed oval open at the top, one side of which extends upward and outward in a curved line, joined below by a vertical stroke ending in a “W”-shaped motif.

Khwarazm, situated in the lower Amu Darya basin of modern western Uzbekistan and northeastern Turkmenistan, was already a settled society based on irrigation agriculture by the late Bronze Age. From the early first millennium BC, it developed into an independent polity and, together with Bactria and Sogdia, became one of the three major cultural centres of ancient Central Asia. Greek and Persian sources mention the region and its inhabitants, referred to as the “Khwarazmians,” who spoke an Iranian language and practised Zoroastrianism along with local cults.

Between the second century BC and the third century AD, Khwarazm was ruled by a succession of local kings known primarily through their coinage. The earliest silver issues imitated the tetradrachms of the Greco-Bactrian king Eukratides I, but gradually evolved distinctive local imagery and tamghas (tribal emblems). By the third century, Wazamar was the last independent ruler before being overthrown by Afrig. The Afrighid dynasty was established around AD 305, with its capital at Kath (modern Beruni), and ruled Khwarazm for nearly five centuries. Its rulers bore the title “Shah of Khwarazm,” upheld Zoroastrian traditions, and maintained shifting relations of warfare, intermarriage, and vassalage with neighbouring powers such as the Sasanian Empire, the Turkic Khaganate, and later the Arab Caliphate. The dynasty gradually declined and was finally overthrown by the Iranian Ma’munid dynasty in AD 995.

The tetradrachm was one of the principal silver denominations of the ancient Greek world. The term literally means “four drachmas,” corresponding to the weight of four standard drachms, typically between 15 and 17 grams. From the fifth century BC onwards, it circulated widely in Athens, the Seleucid realm, and Bactria, serving as a major trade currency across the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia. Its design and weight standard influenced later regional coinages, which adapted the tetradrachm type into distinct local silver monetary systems.

物件編號: A3634

年代: 約公元 712-751 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 29.2 x 28.6 x 1.2 mm

重量: 4.45 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能為花剌子模綠洲地區的沙阿，卡尼卡所造的四德拉克馬銅幣。

錢幣形制較大，正背面幾乎與四德拉克馬銀幣相同。銅幣正面應為卡尼卡右側半身像，頭戴類似頭巾的帽冠，頭頂飾有爪形或新月形的冠飾。幣圖周圍環列花剌子模文「𐾽𐿂𐾰𐾺 𐾽𐾼𐾻𐾰 𐾻𐾰𐾾𐾺𐾻」(MR’Y MLK’ k’nyk)，「𐾽𐿂𐾰𐾺」(MR’Y)約意為「主人、主君」，「𐾽𐾼𐾻𐾰」(MLK’)則為「至高的統治者」，兩者相合為四至八世紀阿夫里格王朝統治者的常見頭銜，大約等於波斯傳統中的沙阿(شاه, Shah‎)。「𐾻𐾰𐾾𐾺𐾻」(k’nyk)則可譯為「卡尼卡」或「卡尼克」，人名詞源可能來自貴霜帝國雄主「迦膩色伽一世」(Kanishka I)。外側幣緣則以珠點為飾。卡尼卡沙阿於波斯人所述之花剌子模王表中不存在，但從出土情況推測，可能於稍施芬(Savashafan，公元751年使唐)之前。

背面中央應為一騎士的右側像，帽冠應與正面半身像相同，是為王像。左上應為花剌子模的族徽(Tamga)，形式大致為中央橫置一向上開口的橢圓，其中一側接著向上向外的曲線，下方以一豎線連接「W」形圖案。

花剌子模(Khwarazm)，位於今日烏茲別克西部與土庫曼東北部的阿姆河下游流域。早在青銅時代晚期，該地便發展出以灌溉農業為基礎的定居社會。至公元前一千年起，花剌子模逐漸形成獨立的政治實體，與巴克特里亞、粟特並列為中亞三大文化區。希臘與波斯文獻均提及此地，其人民被稱為「花剌子模人」，以操伊朗語支的方言為主，宗教上信奉祆教(祆火崇拜)及地方神祇。

約公元前二世紀至公元三世紀，花剌子模由一系列地方君主統治，他們的存在主要透過錢幣學得知。最早的銀幣仿自希臘—巴克特里亞王歐克拉特德斯一世的幣式，後逐漸發展出具有地方特色的圖像與族徽(tamgha)。至三世紀，瓦札瑪爾(Wazamar)為最後一位地方王者，被阿夫里格鎖推翻。阿夫里格王朝約於公元305年建立，以凱斯(Kath，今貝魯尼)為都，統治花剌子模地區近五百年。其君主自稱「花剌子模沙阿」(Shah of Khwarazm)，維持祆教傳統，並與鄰近的薩珊帝國、突厥汗國及後來的阿拉伯哈里發政權互有戰爭與通婚，以及作為附庸或宗藩。阿夫里格王朝後期逐漸式微，至公元995年為伊朗馬蒙王朝所滅。

四德拉克馬銀幣(Tetradrachm)原為古希臘世界的重要貨幣單位，其名稱意為「四倍的德拉克馬」，約相當於四枚標準德拉克馬銀幣的重量，起初介於15至17克之間。此幣自公元前五世紀起在雅典、塞琉古與巴克特里亞等地廣泛流通，成為東地中海與中亞貿易的主要通貨之一。後各地其為範鑄造，逐漸轉化為本地特色的銀幣體系。