Money in daily life

Gold pendant with designs copied from a Kushan coin and a Roman coin, probably from north-western Pakistan, 4th century AD  

Money as jewellery…

Gold and silver coins were sometimes made into jewellery. The same value that had previously made precious metals suitable for adornment and display also applied to coins. They could be incorporated into jewellery to take advantage of their designs, or because of a personal meaning to an individual. Coins with appealing designs were sometimes copied for decorative or religious purposes.

Wardak Stupa deposit, south-east Afghanistan Gandhara period, late 2nd century AD 

Coins and devotion...

As well as being used as money, coins can symbolise spiritual well-being, fertility, or other sorts of wealth. People living in the Kushan Empire seem to have believed that the bounties that gods bestow on their followers could be represented by material wealth. Worshippers could express their devotion through gifts of coins, with the religious merit often exceeding the monetary value of the gift.

Bronze coin of Caracalla with Christian graffiti, Roman, early 3rd century AD 

Individual expression...

Coins minted in the provinces under Roman rule are an example of the great mixing of cultures that occurred within the Empire. Using Roman images but Greek inscriptions, Roman provincial coinage expresses the societies and cities in which it circulated. The nature of coinage also allows for single acts of expression and devotion.