WESTERN LIAO: Xu Xing, 1151-1164, AE cash (2.3g), Zeno-105364, graded 80(05) by GBCA Grading Company, natural flan crack, F-VF. Possibly cast in Balasagun, which was an ancient Soghdian city in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, located in the Chuy Valley between Bishkek and Issyk-Kul Lake. Balasagun was the capital of the Qara Khitay state in 12th-13th Centuries. The Western Liao (1124-1218) dynasty, also known as Qara Khitay state, was founded by Yelü Dashi, a member of the Liao royal family, who led the remnants of the Liao Dynasty to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen conquest of their homeland in the North and Northeast of modern-day China. It was usurped by the Naimans under Küchlük in 1211 and finally destroyed by the Mongol Empire in 1218.
