Coin Afghanistan Qunduz, Am?r Khusro - Dinar, Devaluation of the 2 Dinar - 1503 / 1505 Kunduz

This coin originally belongs to an issue of 2 dinars, struck at Kunduz with a frozen date corresponding to 907 of the Hijra (1501?1502). The coin subsequently underwent an official devaluation, materialised by the application of a countermark reducing its face value to 1 dinar. This monetary operation, carried out at a later point during the reign of Amir Khusro, stands as direct evidence of the economic adjustments practised in this region at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The obverse of the coin depicts a doe facing left.

Kunduz, a city located in the north of present-day Afghanistan, was at the heart of a fragmented political space, a legacy of the disintegration of the great Timurid territories. Amir Khusro exercised local authority there amid intense competition between regional powers. This period is notably marked by the expansion of the Shaybanids led by Muhammad Shaybani Khan, who were progressively extending their dominion over Transoxiana and threatening neighbouring principalities. In this context of political instability and the reshaping of power structures, local authorities were compelled to adapt their monetary system to the economic realities of the time. The practice of countermarking, well attested in such situations, made it possible to rapidly alter the value of currency in circulation without resorting to a new strike, thus offering a pragmatic solution in the face of financial constraints and market fluctuations.