Медные монеты золотоордынского города в Костештах
Copper Coins of the Golden Horde Settlement in Costeşti

Summary/Abstract: The article studies Golden Horde copper coins (puls) minted in a medieval settlement the remains of which are located near Costeşti, Ialoveni District, Moldova. The article consists of an analytical part and a catalog of 469 puls.Having critically reviewed the descriptions and classifications of the coins of the historical Costeşti settlement proposed by other researchers, the authors clarified the reading of coin legends and developed their own classification consisting of 7 types divided into varieties. It has been established that the tamga-like sign that is present on many coins of Costeşti issues is actually a modified version of the Mongol legend “bo čin.” All types of such sign were prepared and presented in drawings. The authors used the degree of reduction of the legends, the shape of the coins (which reflected various technologies for the manufacture of coin blanks) and metrological data as distinctive features of certain types and variants of Costeşti coins. The schemes of sequential reduction of coin legends from readable to completely distorted inscriptions are presented.The authors believe that the coins were minted at Costeşti settlement in the period between the 1290s and the 1330s, i. e., during the reign of the khans Toqta and Uzbeg.The article is provided with a large number of illustrations, including drawings of previously unpublished varieties of puls.

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