More than fifty Chinese coins cast 2,000 years ago during the reign of Wang Mang of the Xin Dynasty were recently discovered in a tomb in Gwangju, South Korea according to Korean and Chinese news reports. The discovery is particularly notable since Korea did not begin using or casting its own coins until some 900 [...]
Chinese coins
A cute photograph of several young children sorting through ancient Chinese coins accompanied a newspaper article published in the Guiyang Evening News (guiyang wanbao 贵阳晚报) dated August 12, 2015. Mr. Wang Pinli (王品礼) and his family live in a remote village in Meitan County (湄潭县) which is located in China’s southwest Guizhou Province (贵州省). The [...]
More than a thousand Tang and Song dynasty coins have been discovered during the restoration of the Cishi Pagoda (cishi ta 慈氏塔) located in Yueyang (岳阳), Hunan Province (湖南省), according to an article in the Yueyang Daily (岳阳日报) dated August 21, 2015. The Cishi Pagoda is a seven-story, eight-sided (octagonal) brick pagoda 39 meters (128 [...]
Two enthusiasts of the “salt lake culture” were taking pictures of birds at the Yuncheng “salt lake” (运城盐池) when they accidentally discovered a number of clay moulds (模具) used to cast iron coins (铁钱) during the Northern Song dynasty (北宋 960-1127), according to an article published June 16, 2015 by the Yuncheng News Network (运城新闻网). [...]
Villagers in Linqing (临清), Shandong Province (山动省) dig for old coins in China’s ancient Grand Canal (大运河) when the water level is low, according to an article published July 2, 2015 by linqing zaixian (临清在线). The Grand Canal is the longest canal in the world. Construction began in the 5th century BC. The canal runs [...]
More than 12,000 iron coins dating from the Northern Song (北宋 959-1126) have been recovered from ruins located in Shanxi Province (山西省) following 20 months of excavation and research, according to a report by the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology (山西省考古研究所) published January 26, 2015 by the Shanxi News Network (山西新闻网). The archaeological site, situated [...]
On special occasions in ancient times, Chinese mints would cast an unusually large, thick, heavy and well-made coin. The coin was known as a “vault protector” (zhen ku qian 镇库钱). The coin was not for circulation but occupied a special place at the treasury. The treasury had a spirit hall where offerings could be made [...]
Two rare ancient Chinese coins were recently discovered in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (宁夏回族自治区) according to an official government website. According to an article on the Pengyang County (彭阳县) website published May 11, 2015, one coin is from the Western Xia (西夏 ) and the other coin is from the Northern Song dynasty. [...]
There is a certain Chinese bronze “coin” that is not included in Chinese coin catalogues. It is sometimes referred to as a “charm” but is not included in Chinese charm catalogues either. It seems that no one wants to have this coin in their collection. At the left is an example of the “coin”. The [...]
Among the rarest of ancient Chinese coins is the tian ce fu bao (天策府宝) coin which was minted by Ma Yin (马殷) of the Kingdom of Chu (楚 907-951) during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Both bronze and iron specimens exist. At the left is an example of a bronze tian ce fu [...]
During the 1950’s, a number of banliang (半两) coins were unearthed at a site near Xian (西安). Among the coins was one unusually large and very heavy banliang coin. While banliang coins cast in Qin (秦) during the Warring States period typically have a diameter of 32 – 34 mm and weigh about 8 grams, [...]
A large quantity of coins dating to the Tang and Song dynasties was recently unearthed by a large excavator removing silt from a river in Yancheng (盐城市), Jiangsu Province, according to media reports. At approximately 10:00 AM on March 21, the excavator was dredging a small 6-meter wide river that runs through Longgang Town (龙冈镇) [...]