Constructed in 130 B.C. when the Han Dynasty extended trading to the West, the Silk Road had been the thoroughfare that linked Europe and Asia. It is also known as Silk Route, was a network of roads that spanned across terrains from the Great Wall of China to the Takla Makan Desert, the Gobi Desert, and the Pamir Mountains. It was China’s access to the Mediterranean.
For millennia, the system of trade routes had been used for international trade and the exchange of culture, commerce, history, and religion. A good deal of commodities such as silk, precious gems, spices, tea, glassware, porcelain, textile, and horses traveled along the Silk Road until 1453 A.D when the Ottoman Empire closed them. Although it’s been nearly six centuries since it was closed, its impact remained.
Silk Road Banknotes
The obverse of the Uzbekistan 50 Sum banknote from 1994 features the Ulugh Beg Madrasah. It is the most significant teaching center of the Timurid Empire which is now Uzbekistan. The note also shows the Tilya-Kori Madrasah and Sher-Dor Madrasah of the Registan in Samarkand at the heart of the Silk Road. On the note’s obverse is the Uzbek coat of arms.
This Italian 1,000 Lire banknote portrays Marco Polo. Polo is a Venetian merchant who traveled along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. He was not the first European who took the road to China. However his chronicle that brought Europeans to the other part of the world. Marco Polo also brought back to Europe the concept of using paper money.
Silk Road Coins
This coin collection includes 20 silver coins from ancient civilizations that extended through the famous route. The locations are Taxila, Rome Antoninianus, the Mauryan Empire, Western Satraps, Tabaristan, Shahi, Ghaznavid, Amirs of Sind, Rasulid, Delhi Sultanate. In addition to Timurid, Armenia, Muzaffarid, Akbar, the Ottoman Empire, Hungary, Russia, Nepal, and India.
