Chinese coins

Coins and Charms of the Shui Nationality

June 1, 2013
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The Shui people (水族) are one of the ethnic minority groups who live mainly in the Sandu Shui Autonomous County (三都水族自治县) of southwest China’s Guizhou Province (贵州省). The Shui (Sui) are descendants of the ancient Baiyue (百越) who lived in the area of southern China and northern Vietnam beginning in the first millennium BC. “Shui” [...]

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Rare ‘Three Hole Spade’ Sold at Auction

May 27, 2013
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The mystique and rarity surrounding the “three hole spade” (san kong bu 三孔布) is such that many Chinese coin collectors consider it to be “the king of ancient coins”. Even though catalogs of ancient Chinese coins have existed for almost 900 years, “three hole spades” from the Warring States period (475-221 BC) are so rare [...]

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Coins from Han, Tang, Song and Jin Dynasties Unearthed in Gansu

May 23, 2013

Coins from the Han, Tang, Song and Jin dynasties were recently unearthed at a construction site in Dingxi City according to a report published in the May 23, 2013 issue of the Lanzhou Morning News (兰州晨报). Dingxi (定西) is located about 100 km east of Lanzhou (兰州) in China’s northwest province of Gansu (甘肃省). The [...]

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China TV Shows Ancient Coin Cache Being Dug Up in Anhui

May 18, 2013
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More than 500 pounds of ancient coins have been dug up at a construction site in east China according to news reports by Chinese print and TV media. The site is located in Guzhen County (固镇县) in Anhui Province (安徽省). Chinese archaeologists from the Guzhen County Bureau of Cultural Relics (固镇县文物局) are seen digging up [...]

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Song Dynasty Coins in a Ming Dynasty Tomb

May 14, 2013
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Why would a Ming Dynasty tomb contain coins only from the Song Dynasty? This was the question faced by archaeologists excavating a tomb in Longshan Village (龙山村) according to an article published in the May 6, 2013 edition of the Pengcheng Daily (彭城晚报). The brick tomb was discovered near Xuzhou (徐州), Jiangsu Province (江苏省) in [...]

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600 ‘Ming Knives’ from the State of Yan Unearthed in Hebei

May 6, 2013
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A villager in Pingquan County (平泉县), Hebei Province (河北省) accidentally discovered a buried clay pot containing about 600 specimens of knife money from the Warring States Period (475 BC -221 BC), according to a dispatch from the China News (中新网) dated May 3, 2013. Mr. Wang Yongtie (王永铁), the village chief of Guangxingdian Village (广兴店村), [...]

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3,000 Tang Dynasty ‘Kai Yuan Tong Bao’ Coins Unearthed in Xinjiang

April 30, 2013
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Archaeologists have unearthed more than 3,000 coins dating from the Tang Dynasty in the ancient Silk Road city of Kucha (库车县) located in China’s far western region of Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区).* The China News (中新网), in an article published on April 25, 2013, reports that the Kucha Bureau of Cultural Relics (库车县文物局) was informed of the [...]

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Mystery Surrounding 100 Tons of Song Dynasty Iron Coins

April 26, 2013
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The People’s Daily (人民日报) on May 20, 2000 announced that Chinese archaeologists had unearthed a “mountain” of ancient Chinese coins in a field near the city of Cangzhou (沧州) in China’s northern province of Hebei (河北省). The initial discovery of the buried coins actually dates to 1997. The coins were made of iron and were [...]

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Digging for Coins Despite Lurking Danger

April 8, 2013
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The ancient town of Ciqikou (磁器口) is part of the municipality of Chongqing (重庆) located in Southwest China. Ciqikou actually translates as “Porcelain Port” and the town gained prominence during the Ming Dynasty as a prosperous commercial port located on the Jialing River. The Jialing River (嘉陵江) is a popular spot for the residents of [...]

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Admiral Zheng He and the Yongle Tongbao Coin

March 31, 2013
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Scientists have discovered a Ming Dynasty coin in Kenya that “proves China was trading with East Africa BEFORE Europeans arrived”, according to a recent newspaper article.  The report, which was carried by newspapers around the world, claims that the coin provides evidence that the famous Chinese Admiral Zheng He reached East Africa years before the [...]

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700-Year-Old Coin Pit Discovered in Hunan Province

February 28, 2013
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On February 20, 2013 workers digging at a construction site in Chenzhou City (郴州市) located in Anren Prefecture (安仁县) in the southeastern part of Hunan Province (湖南省) unearthed a money pit dating back some 700 years according to Chinese newspaper reports. The money pit contained approximately 7.5 kg of coins from the late Song (960-1279) [...]

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Chinese Coins and Bank Logos

February 10, 2013
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Coins are one of the most easily recognized symbols of prosperity and good fortune and China, being one of the first countries in the world to use coins, has a monetary history going back more than 2,500 years. For this reason, ancient Chinese coin symbols have historically been popular for such non-currency purposes as fortune-telling, [...]

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