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Please help identify islamic (?) coin: Russian Wire money, Denga Vasilli III

Started by sandromonete, March 02, 2023, 11:49:47 AM

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sandromonete

Silver/ Billon (?) Weight  g.0,45

Thanks

Sandro

THCoins

Not Islamic, but Russian wire money.
AR Denga of Grand Duke Vasili III Ivanovich (1505-1533AD), Moscow mint.

Manzikert

Fascinating! The reverse looks very much South Indian, but the obverse is so obviously European!

Alan

sandromonete


Figleaf

Extraordinary id outside your comfort zone, TH.  :applause:  :applause:

Also, great photo. It helps to post good photos.

The script is Russian, but old style as well as old spelling. :P

I guess the St. George side looks European because you know that the whorl at 5 o'clock is a dragon, but there are horsemen on post-Alexandrian Asian coins also. I was wondering about the lance. Traditionally, the rider holds it at head level and it goes down diagonally, picking on the dragon. Here, the lance is AWOL. Perhaps, the horseman held a sword behind him in this design?

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Alex Island

Quote from: Figleaf on March 03, 2023, 01:46:48 PMThe script is Russian, but old style as well as old spelling. :P

I guess the St. George side looks European because you know that the whorl at 5 o'clock is a dragon, but there are horsemen on post-Alexandrian Asian coins also. I was wondering about the lance. Traditionally, the rider holds it at head level and it goes down diagonally, picking on the dragon. Here, the lance is AWOL. Perhaps, the horseman held a sword behind him in this design?

Peter

The rider holds a curved saber, and below is a severed human head. Cyrillic inscription:
All islands around the world & islands coin

THCoins

Agree with Alex Island. I once looked into this series because of the similarity with St George the dragonslayer (but the horseman is supposed to represent the tsar)
A a rough generalisation and from memory, the Dengas are the early successors of the previous coinage under mongol rule. These are lighter, and have a horseman with sabre. I believe starting with Ivan the Terrible the Dengas gradually were replaced by the heavier Kopeks, which had a horseman with spear. Over many decades the Kopeks became lighter and more debased. So the later Kopeks weigh about the same as the earlier Dengas.

Figleaf

Useful, Alex. Thank you. The text is more comprehensible now. The description below the picture given:

Obv: Horseman to right, holding sabre over his head.
Rev: inscription: "Sovereign of all Russians"

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.