Hephthalite Coin from an Early Medieval Burial at Gorny-10, Northern Altai

Abstract

We describe a silver coin found in one of the burials at Gorny-10 cemetery in northern Altai, excavated by expeditions from the Altai State University in 2000–2003. The coin was discovered in a destroyed burial of children (No. 46) along with other informative artifacts, which are rather uncommon in such burials. Judging by horse harness and ornaments, the assemblage falls in the interval from the late 6th to early 8th century AD. The coin is an imitation of the drachm of the Sasanian shah Pērōz I to classify as type or emission 287, according to R. Göbl, that is one of the most common types of Hephthalite coins. The elemental concentration of the specimen has a high content of silver and no gold. The specimen has no analogs in North or Central Asia. It could have been brought to the forest-steppe Altai by Türks, who conquered the Hephthalite Empire in the fi rst decades of the late 6th century AD.