The second Hunnic power to have established itself, beside the Kidarites, at the end of the 4th century CE was the Alkhan. Up to this point in time the Sasanians had controlled the areas south of the Hindu Kush to the Khyber Pass (showcase 2), and they struck coins there presumably at a mint in Kabulistan (No. 1). East of the Khyber Pass, the Kidarites ruled in Gandhara and Swat (showcase 3, 4, 5). Around 384/5 CE control of Kabulistan passed to the Alkhan, who took over the operating Sasanian mint; however, we do not know if this transition happened violently or peacefully. The Alkhan modified the Sasanian dies found there by replacing the legend with their clan name "Alchanno" and inserting their clan symbol (tamga) within the frame, while at first keeping the portrait of the Sasanian great king (Nos. 2–4). Coins of this phase have been found in Begram (old Kapisa, 80 km north of Kabul) and in Hadda near Jalalabad in Afghanistan (Fig. C).

At the beginning of the 5th century, the Alkhan changed the iconography of their coins, replacing the bust of the Sasanian king on the obverse with their own likenesses. At first this new type of portrait showed the ruler bare-headed; instead of a diadem, a necklace with prominent ribbons rising from the back of the neck functions as an emblem of rulership (Nos. 6-9). These very characteristic and individualistic portraits emphasize the artificially deformed skulls of the Hunnic rulers, an ideal of beauty and nobility that spread with the Huns even into Europe during their migration. In order to create this elongated shape, the infant's head was intentionally bound so that the skull grew to the desired form. Today this custom may seem very strange, but it would not necessarily have caused any kind of impairment.