Cultural Selection: Regional Variations in Coinage and the Monetary System

Ancient Coins © Mehrdad Shabahang

We invite you to read our weekly Cultural Selection articles, which adhere to preselected themes. Knowledge and appreciation of these subjects help to preserve, disseminate, and promote elements of our common heritage of the Silk Roads.

Variations in coin minting and the circulation of money provides significant insight into sociocultural elements, including tradition and power dynamics within regions along the Silk Roads. A coin’s designated function was determined by the financial and fiscal policy of the region, which were a reflection of objective market requirements, free trade, and social psychology. Origins of coin minting date back centuries, and is thought to have existed even in the Shang Dynasty during the 11th century BCE. It was during the 8^th century BCE that Lydians of Western Asia Minor, the region now known as modern Turkey, began producing pieces of metal while guaranteeing their weight and quality. Use of coins spread amongst Ionian merchants, who subsequently traded them along the coast of Asia Minor. Minted in the new Greek style, these circular coins were stamped flat, and two-sided. They displayed royal portraits on one side, with Greek deities on the other. The distribution of these coins throughout Central Asia then served as inspiration for similar coins in neighboring regions, where local populations imbued them with elements inherent to their own culture. For instance, local gods replaced those of the Greeks, and the portraits were adjusted according to their specific figurative art traditions. Gold, silver, and bronze coins encouraged the flow of interregional trade, while other less valuable copper coins served as a medium to barter. This transactional element of coins led to increased trading flexibility, thus increasing overall efficiency and productivity.

Some examples of bronze coins dating to the 1^st century CE feature Bactrian camels that were minted in the Kushan kingdom in Central Asia. Kushan influence was expansive from the 1^st - 3^rd centuries CE, producing a variety of gold-minted coins. In other regions, variations in inscription, such as Arabic with remnants of Pahlavi and Sogdian, as well as schematized depictions of crowned busts, attest to changes in sociopolitical and religious values. Moreover, a coin’s exact weight, dimension, and composition were clear indicators of the state of the economy. This was reflected in the quality of metal used; primarily gold, silver, and bronze. In some Central Asian regions, gold coins served as treasure and universal currency, but not necessarily as a medium of exchange in domestic trade. In some regions such as Jibal (a region located in now what is considered western Iran), and Tabaristan (a region located in now what is considered northern Iran), dinars represented the medium of exchange, while in others, such as Kirman, Fars in modern Iran and Transoxania in Central Asia, they were not. From the 8^th century CE, the Arab conquest of Central Asia resulted in the issuing of gold, silver, and bronze coins known as “Kufic”, due to their Arabic inscriptions. Kufic gold coins, or dinars, were not minted regularly in all sub-regions. In fact, dinars were only minted intermittently in Samarkand and Chach (Tashkent) under the Tahirid influence (821-71). Under Samanid influence during the 10^th century, issuing of dinars in Bukhara, Samarand, and Chach in modern Uzbekistan was also infrequent.

Moreover, until the 10^th century CE, gold coins were often used as rewards or gifts in sub-regions such as Transoxania. It was also during this time that renowned geographers, Ibn Hawqal and al-Istakhri, remarked that the function of gold coins varied according to which caliphate it belonged. For instance, monetary circulation was marked by the existence of the Kufic dirham, and the Bukhar Khudat dirham; the latter being modelled on the drachm of the Sasanian king, Bahram V (420-438). Bhukar Khudat coins were further divided into three distinct types: Musayyabi, Muhammadi, and Ghitriffi dirhams. In addition, the free exchange of Bukhar Khudat for Kufic dirhams led to a fluctuation in value. Due to their transnational fluidity, Kufic dirhams, including Samanid coins, circulated far beyond the Muslim East, even being discovered in Europe. However, this was not the case for Bukhar Khudat coins, which did not embody the function of a universal currency, but served the needs of domestic commerce as a medium of exchange. Eventually, gold and silver coins were used throughout both maritime and terrestrial routes. Despite the trade of coins in various regions, increased Mongol influence in the Far East, as well as the subsequent “silver coin crisis”, negatively affected the minting and circulation of coins in the Muslim East from the 11^th to 13^th centuries CE. This crisis would eventually lead to the introduction of paper money, adapted from an 11^th century Far Eastern technique, and continues to be used in contemporary society.

See also:

Ancient Korean Art and Glassware

The Enduring Legacy of Ajanta Paintings

Applied Arts and Metalwork

Clothing as a Reflection of Socio-economic Status and Regional Differences

Madrasas as Universal Centers of Education and Culture

The Development of Artistic Textiles

Medieval Alchemy and Chemistry in Central Asia

Persian and Arab Influences in Thai Courtly Life

The Art of Manuscript Bookmaking along the Silk Roads

Paths of New Beliefs

Regional Variations in Coinage and the Monetary System