LIAO: AE charm/amulet (20.00g), ca. 11th/12th century, Zeno-140276 (this example), twelve coarsely engraved animals representing the Chinese zodiac, led by a human being, around the central round hole within a small square box, same on both sides, but quite differently engraved, VF, RRR. The Western Liao or Qara Khitai, officially the Great Liao dynasty, was a Sinicized Khitan empire in Central Asia. A similar example was reportedly found in Central Asia. An example listed in the Classic Chinese Charms Book Volume 2, #664, has a similar obverse, but a totally different reverse, assigned by the author to the Liao Dynasty, and another, #660, with just 6 animals on each side, described as Liao or Yuan dynasty.
