Category: Chinese coins

During renovation of the Famen Temple (Famensi 法门寺) in 1987, an underground “palace” was discovered under the foundation of the pagoda. This secret vault was found intact and had never been looted by grave robbers.

Upon opening the vault, the archaeologists discovered remarkable treasures including the relic of a finger bone of the Buddha (释迦牟尼).

Almost overlooked among the many priceless treasures was a set of thirteen coins.

Shown in the image below are the 13 coins made of turtle shell (玳瑁币) which are the first in Chinese history to have been discovered made from this material.

Famen Temple is situated about 75 miles (120 km) west of Xian (西安) in Shaanxi Province (陕西省). It is unclear as to when it was founded but historical records show that the temple had achieved consider size by the time of the Northern Wei dynasty (北魏 386-534 AD). The best historical evidence points to its founding during the middle to late Han dynasty.

In 1981, the thirteen-story octagonal brick pagoda at Famen Temple, which was built in 1609, partially collapsed due to heavy rains.

During renovations in 1987, the foundation of the previous Tang dynasty (唐朝 618-907 AD) wooden pagoda was discovered underneath the foundation of the brick pagoda.

Steps were discovered which led to a lower level.

The archaeology team entered an underground palace by going down this 19-step staircase where they found a door.

The archaeologists opened the door and proceeded along a long narrow path which was paved with a thick layer of coins. There were more than 27,000 coins.

The coins dated from the Tang dynasty and included kaiyuan tongbao (开元通宝) and qianyuan zhongbao (乾元重宝) copper coins.

Included among the priceless royal treasures in the underground palace were the thirteen coins made from the shell of the hawksbill sea turtle (玳瑁).

These turtle shell coins are modeled after, and have the same inscription, as the copper kaiyuan tongbao coins.

The turtle shell coins are 2.75 cm in diameter, 0.06 cm thick and weigh 24.8 grams.

According to the Dharani Samuccaya Sutra (佛说陀罗尼集经):

《佛说陀罗尼集经》中曰：“其七宝者：一金二银三珍珠四珊瑚五玳瑁六水晶七琉璃”.

This tantra states that there are seven “treasures” or precious things: (1) gold, (2) silver, (3) pearl, (4) coral, (5) turtle shell, (6) crystal, (7) colored glaze.

Coins of a precious material like turtle shell would have only been made to commemorate a very special occasion. In this case, they would have been made by order of an emperor to honor a sacred relic of the Buddha.

There is no mention of coins made of turtle shell in any ancient Chinese historical text so this discovery came as a complete surprise to Chinese archaeologists and numismatists.

As to why there are 13 coins, experts say that the number “13” is considered auspicious in Buddhism. This may be related to there being 13 sects in Chinese Mahayana. The number 13 is also reflected in Buddhist architecture as evidenced by the 13-story Famen Pagoda as well as the 13-floor Potala Palace (布达拉宫) in Tibet.

These coins are the first turtle shell coins discovered in China and may also be the earliest coins made of turtle shell ever found in the world. The inscription on the coins date them to the Tang dynasty. Because there is no mention of turtle shell coins in Tang dynasty historical texts, little else is known of their origin.

It should be noted that during the Han dynasty (汉朝) the Chinese did make coins in the shape of a turtle shell but these coins were made of silver and not turtle shell.

In Buddhism, a pagoda is a burial chamber which stores a sarira (舍利子) which is a “relic” of the body remaining after cremation.

Although the turtle shell coins were a significant find, the major discovery in the underground vault was the relic of the middle finger bone of the Buddha’s left hand. This did not come as a complete surprise, however, because historical documents clearly recorded that this “true relic” (灵骨) was kept at the Famen Temple.

This sarira is the only finger bone of the Buddha known to exist.

Many of the other treasures in the underground palace date to 874 AD which was when the chamber door was last closed. The underground palace remained hidden to the world for another 1,113 years.

The underground palace contains a total of 2,499 treasures from the Tang dynasty including gems, jewelry, art pieces, gold and silver utensils, and numerous silk fabrics woven with gold thread. There is an embroidered dress of Wu Zetian (武則天) who reigned during the years 690-705 AD of the Tang dynasty and who was the only official female monarch in Chinese history.

Also found was a 1.96 meter long “stick” made of gold and silver. This “stick”, and a number of the finest celadon ceramics, are believed to have been gifts from Emperor Yizong (唐懿宗) who reigned during the years 859-873 AD of the Tang dynasty.

The underground treasures, including the turtle shell coins, are now on display at the fully remodeled “Famen Temple Cultural Scenic Area” (法门寺文化景区).

With the minting of the kai yuan tong bao (開元通寶) coin beginning in 621 AD during the reign of Emperor Gaozu (唐高祖) of the Tang dynasty (唐朝), almost 700 years of the continuous casting of the wu zhu (五铢) coin ended.

The kai yuan tong bao, shown at left, became the model for most of the coins cast during the dynasties that followed up until the very end of the imperial era in 1911.

“Kai yuan” (開元) translates as “opening a new era” and “tong bao” (通寶) means “circulating treasure”.

There are some interesting variations of this coin and a few of the more unusual ones are discussed below.

The image above shows a most unusual kai yuan tong bao coin on the left. On the right is a rubbing of the same coin making it is easier to read the inscription.

This coin is believed to have been minted by either Chu (楚 907-951 AD) or the Southern Han Kingdom (南汉 905-971 AD). While Tang dynasty coins are well-cast copper coins with uniform-sized Chinese characters written in clerical script (隶书), this lead coin is poorly-cast with very irregular and poorly written characters.

Not only is the coin made of lead, which has a much less intrinsic value than copper, it is also smaller, thinner, and lighter than the Tang dynasty coin. It also has a larger square hole which means it contains even less metal.

This coin has the same kai yuan tong bao inscription. However, the inscription is not read in the same order (top, bottom, right, left). Instead, the characters are read starting at the top and going counterclockwise (top, left, bottom, right).

The first character kai (開) is upside down. (For illustrative purposes, I am using the Chinese characters from the copper coin.)

The next character, yuan (元), is rotated to the right so that its top is facing the square hole.

The third character, tong (通), is rotated to the left with its right side facing the square hole.

Finally, the fourth character, bao (寶), is upside down.

This is certainly a most unusual kai yuan tong bao coin.

Coins that were declared by the emperor to be worth more than the standard cash coin would sometimes have the inscription “zhong bao” (重寶) instead of “tong bao” (寶). The zhong (重) means “heavy” to imply that it has greater value.

Shown at the left is a qian yuan zhong bao (乾元重寶) which was cast in 759 AD by Emperor Suzong (唐肅宗 756-762 AD) of the Tang dynasty.

This “zhong bao” coin was declared to be worth the equivalent of 10 regular cash coins such as the kai yuan tong bao.

While there are no historical records stating that a “kai yuan zhong bao” (開元重寶) was ever officially minted, shown below is such a coin.

The inscription is read in the traditional order (top, bottom, right, left). The coin is made of copper and is well-made. The characters are uniform but appear to be of slightly different sizes. The coin is 33 mm in diameter which makes it larger than a Tang dynasty coin which is about 24 mm.

This coin would not have been minted during the Tang dynasty but rather sometime later. At this time, it is not clear when or where the coin originated. The coin may be of Japanese origin, or even a charm, but it was not presented at the auction as either of these. This kai yuan zhong bao copper coin was sold at China Guardian Auctions in 2011 for about $925.

Even more unusual than the kai yuan zhong bao described above is the kai yuan zhong bao coin made of lead shown at the left.

The kai (開) at top, the yuan (元) at bottom and the zhong (重) at right can be clearly identified.

The bao (寶) at left is, however, very strange until you realize that it is not the Chinese character bao (寶).

Remember that the Chinese character bao (寶) translates as “treasure”.

The “character” to the left of the square hole in this lead kai yuan zhong bao coin is, in fact, not a Chinese character at all but rather a picture of an ingot.

Shown at the left is another form of ancient Chinese money known as an ingot (sycee 细丝). Sycee were made of either silver or gold and could be cast in a number of different shapes. The silver ingot (银锭) at the left is the most common and its shape would be easily recognizable by the Chinese people.

The ingot, being a very high denomination form of money, would therefore represent a “treasure” and easily substitutes for the Chinese character bao, meaning “treasure”, on this coin.

So, the inscription on the coin is indeed kai yuan zhong bao.

While it is not clear when or where the copper kai yuan zhong bao described above originated, it is much clearer where the lead coin came from since it was found in the same area as the State of Chu and Southern Han Kingdom lead coins discussed earlier.

Finally, I would like to introduce the most unusual variation of the “kai yuan” coin theme. It is another lead coin. It was also found in the same area as the other lead coins discussed above and, therefore, is also attributed to the State of Chu or the Southern Han Kingdom.

Looking at the coin above, you can clearly see from the rubbing that it has the kai (開) at the top, the yuan (元) at the bottom, and the tong (通) at the right.

But, you can also clearly see that the character at the left is zhong (重). This is the position where you would always expect to see the Chinese character bao (寶) meaning “treasure”.

This means that the inscription reads kai yuan tong zhong (開元通重) which makes no sense at all! Remember the tong (通) character signifies a one cash coin while coins with the zhong (重) character represent a higher denomination such as, for example, being worth 10 cash coins.

How could a coin be worth both 1 cash and 10 cash at the same time?

The owner of this coin believes that whoever made the coin mould was just careless and mistakenly wrote zhong (重) instead of bao (寶). We know that scribes can sometimes make mistakes in manuscripts so it is certainly possible that the same can happen to those writing the inscriptions in coin moulds.

It appears that after making the mould, no one noticed or cared about the error and coins were cast. It is likely that very few coins were produced from this one mould and, as far as is known, this is the only specimen to have survived to the present time.

The owner of the coin even speculates that this may be the earliest specimen of any Chinese coin having such a clerical error to have been discovered.

The coins described above are just a few of the more interesting and unusual examples of coins based on the Tang dynasty kai yuan tong bao to have been discovered.

Because of expenses incurred in fighting the Xiongnu (匈奴) and opening up new territories, Emperor Wu (武帝 156 BC – 87 BC) of the Han dynasty (汉朝 202 BC – 220 AD) was in desperate need to raise revenues and in 119 BC decided to issue a new type of coinage.

Unlike the bronze ban liang coin which was the coin of the realm, this was a new form of money made of “white metal” (白金) which, according to the Records of the Grand Historian 《史记·平淮书》, was a mixture of silver and tin.

These new coins were known as the Bai Jin San Pin (白金三品) which literally translates as “white metal three kinds”.

The Bai Jin San Pin came in three denominations which differ in shape and surface pattern. In addition, they were not thin like common coins but were unusually thick and heavy and are sometimes described as “cake” or “biscuit” coins.

The first coin in the three coin set, shown at the left, was round and weighed 8 tael (liang 两). Incredibly, the government proclaimed that this silver coin would be worth the equivalent of 3,000 “cash” coins which at the time were the 4 zhu ban liang coin and, beginning in 118 BC, the wu zhu coin (五铢钱).

The round shape was meant to represent the sky or heavens and, consequently, the coin had the pattern design of a dragon described by one source as having a “long mouth, long neck, one horn, and flying through the clouds”.

As already mentioned, the historical texts of the Han dynasty stated that the Bai Jin San Pin coins were minted from a silver-tin alloy. To date, however, the only dragon coins unearthed have been made of lead. No authentic (i.e. silver) dragon coins are known to exist as of this writing.

The second coin in the set was square, weighed 6 tael, and was worth 500 cash coins. It had the image of a horse which represented the square earth.

The horse is described as having its “head upright, chest high, with three legs on the ground and one hoof raised, full of vigor and and imposing momentum.”

These two coins, the “round” dragon coin and the “square” horse coin, reflect the ancient Chinese theory of the “circle and square” where heaven is represented by a circle and the earth by a square.

The third coin of the Bai Jin San Pin was oval-shaped, weighed 4 tael, and was worth 300 cash coins. It had the image of a turtle (wu gui 乌龟).

The turtle’s domed shell represents the sky above and its flat bottom represents the earth below. The turtle, therefore, represented the Chinese people who also live beneath the vaulted sky and stand on the flat earth. The turtle is also a symbol of longevity and immortality.

At the left is a photo of the silver turtle coin excavated in 2013 in Xian (西安). Xian (Chang’an 长安) was the capital of the Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu.

The coin was discovered by sand dredgers excavating in the dried up bed of the Weihe River (渭河) in the northern suburbs of the city.

The obverse is dome-shaped with the middle thick and the edges thin.

The coin is 1.6 inches (40 mm) long, 0.8 inch (21 mm) wide, and 0.12 inch (3.1 mm) thick. It weighs 10 grams. The obverse side has a scaly armor design imitating that of a turtle.

If you look closely, you will see a small square seal stamped on the surface at the middle right of the coin. This counterstamp is believed to be the Chinese character shao (少). The character shao refers to the shaofu (少府).

The shaofu (少府) was one of the Nine Ministers of the Han dynasty. Various English translations of shaofu include Privy Treasurer, Minister Steward, Chamberlain of the Palace Revenues, and Superintendent of the Lesser Treasury. The shaofu managed the palace treasury, i.e., the private finances of the imperial clan. The Records of the Grand Historian《史记·平准书》and the Book of Han《汉书·食货志》state that the shaofu was responsible for the minting of the silver Bai Jin San Pin coins.

The reverse side, shown at the left, is flat. There are two seal script (篆书) characters, one above the other.

Mr. Huang Xiquan (黄锡全), a recognized expert in the field and the former head of the China Numismatic Museum (中国钱币博物馆), reads these characters as chui guang (垂光).

According to Mr. Huang, the meaning of chui guang is “glory illuminates, bounties bestowed to the world” (光辉普照，恩泽人间之意) which would refer to the achievements of Emperor Wu.

During the 1980’s, a number of these dragon, horse and turtle coins were unearthed at various archaeological digs. These coins were consistent with the description in the Records of the Grand Historian except that they were all made of lead.

As a result, these lead coins raised serious questions as to their authenticity since historical texts state that the “white metal”, from which the official coins were minted, was an alloy of silver and tin.

However, in 2007 and again in 2011, silver coins with the horse pattern were finally unearthed in Shaanxi (陕西).

And in 2013, the first silver turtle coin was unearthed. This is the turtle coin described above.

With these discoveries came the confirmation that the silver coins, and not the lead coins, were the authentic legal coins described in the ancient texts. Lead coins are either counterfeit or burial money.

Please again note that to date, there has not been any confirmed archaeological excavations of a silver round coin with the dragon motif. There exits a number of examples of lead round coins with a dragon motif, such as the one pictured above, but a coin which historical texts describe as being worth the equivalent of 3,000 bronze ban liang or wu zhu coins would not be made of the base metal lead when the lower denomination horse and turtle coins are now confirmed to have been made of silver.

Besides, the laws of the Han dynasty specified that it was illegal for the government to issue coins made of a base metal such as lead.

Nevertheless, during the Han dynasty many individuals found counterfeiting Bai Jin San Pin coins using lead instead of silver to be easy and very profitable.

However, only the emperor had the right to mint coins at the time and minting by individuals was strictly forbidden. Thousands of counterfeiters were executed for their acts.

The Bai Jin San Pin coins are generally recognized to be the first official silver coins produced in China. However, it is probably more accurate to say that the Bai Jin San Pin, although not pure silver and not in the traditional shape of a coin, were the first legal silver coins minted by the government for general circulation and recorded in official documents.

Even older forms of silver money have been found but they are not mentioned in official documents. Examples include spade money made of silver from the Warring States period (战国时代 475 BC – 221 BC) as well as a silver ban liang coin from the State of Qin (秦国 770 BC – 207 BC).

In the end, the Bai Jin San Pin coins were short-lived. They were considered to be “empty coins” (虛幣) and inflationary because they were not worth their stated value. Also, people could easily counterfeit them using the base metal lead instead of the precious metal silver. In 115 BC, only five years after their introduction, the government abolished the circulation of the Bai Jin San Pin coins.

Thirty years after the founding of the Song dynasty (宋朝 960-1279), the government was still struggling to consolidate rule.  Economic hardship in the country was so great that peasants formed rebel armies to resist Song authority and kill corrupt officials.

The largest uprising took place in Sichuan (四川).  Tea farmers rose up against the government monopoly on tea purchases (博買務) which was preventing them from making a reasonable income.  The tea farmers were joined by landless tenant farmers (旁戶) who were being exploited by rich landowners.

By 993 AD, this insurrection had grown to include several hundred thousand peasants.  Under the leadership of Wang Xiaobo (王小波), and adopting the slogan “equalize the income of the rich and poor” (均贫富),  the rebel army was able to defeat regular Song armies in Sichuan.  The rebels raided government granaries and redistributed grain.

When Wang Xiaobo died in battle, his brother-in-law Li Shun (李顺) assumed leadership of the uprising.  Military strength grew under his command and in 994 AD he attacked and successfully occupied Chengdu (成都) which was Sichuan’s largest city.

Li Shun then proclaimed himself King of Da Shu (大蜀王) and adopted the period title “Ying Yun” (应运).

In 994, Li Shun began to cast bronze (铜钱) and iron (铁钱) coins with the inscriptions ying yun yuan bao (应运元宝) and ying yun tong bao (应运通宝).

The coins are traditional cash coins with inscriptions written in clerical script (隶书) and read in a clockwise (旋读) manner.  They are similar in style to the coins of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十国) and, in particular, the coins of the Former Shu (前蜀 907-925) and the Later Shu (后蜀 926-965).  These were kingdoms situated in Sichuan with the capital at Chengdu.  The Later Shu was conquered by the Song in 965.

At the left is an example of a bronze ying yun yuan bao (应运元宝) coin in the collection of the Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆).  The coin weighs 2.9 grams.

According to one reference (中華珍泉追踪錄 p.184), this coin was donated to the Shanghai Museum by Mr. Sun Ding (孙鼎) who was a famous Chinese coin collector of the 20th century.

The National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆) also has a bronze ying yun yuan bao which can be seen here.

This coin has a diameter of 23 mm and a weight of 3.9 grams.

In addition to the bronze ying yun yuan bao coin, the National Museum of China also also has an iron ying yun tong bao (应运通宝) coin which can be seen here.

This iron coin has a diameter of 23 mm and a weight of 3.7 grams.

After a very short time, Li Shun changed his reign title to Ying Gan (应感).  According to the Baidu Encyclopedia, after Li Shun died in battle, his subordinates began to cast bronze and iron coins with the inscription ying gan tong bao (应感通宝).

Shown at the left is an outstanding example of a bronze ying gan tong bao coin.

The diameter is 23.7 mm.

In 2015, this coin sold at auction for about $54,000 (RMB 368,000).

Another bronze ying gan tong bao coin is in the collection of the National Museum of China and can be seen here.

This specimen has a diameter of 23 mm and a weight of 3.2 grams.

An example of an iron ying gan tong bao coin can be seen here at the Sichuan Museum (四川博物馆).

This iron coin has a diameter of 23 mm.

The reverse sides of all the coins are blank with the exception of the ying yun yuan bao (应运元宝) bronze coin at the National Museum of China.

According to the museum’s website, there is a “star” (星) and a “moon” (月) on the reverse side.

Unfortunately, the image on the website is too dark to discern the star and moon.

However, a January 29, 2016 article in the “China Shoucang Journal” (收藏) displays the image of a bronze ying yun tong bao (应运通宝) coin that was recently excavated in Hubei (湖北).  As can be clearly seen, this coin has both a “star” and a “moon” (月孕星版) on the reverse side.

With a diameter of 26 mm, the coin is slightly larger than the other coins mentioned above.  The article explains that this coin may be a “pattern” or “trial” piece (试样) or possibly a “mother” coin (铁母) used to make impressions in the moulds to cast iron coins.

Li Shun ruled his Da Shu kingdom for only about five months before he was killed by the superior forces of the Song.  Even without their leader, the Da Shu Rebellion continued for about another year before it was fully suppressed by the Song army in 995 AD.

The ying yun yuan bao (应运元宝), ying yun tong bao (应运通宝) and ying gan tong bao (应感通宝) coins produced during the time of the Sichuan rebellion are recognized as the first coins in Chinese history to have been issued by a peasant uprising.

Because the Da Shu kingdom existed just a few months, only a very small number of coins were minted.

Even fewer of these coins have survived to the present time.  The bronze coins are among “China’s 50 Rarest Ancient Coins” (历代古钱五十珍) which makes them, as the Chinese like to say, as rare and precious as “phoenix feathers and unicorn horns” (凤毛麟角).

In the summer of 1131 AD, the armies of the Southern Song (南宋) and the Jin (金朝) were encamped on opposite sides of the Yangtze River (Changjiang 长江) and engaged in a pitched battle.  General Liu Guangshi (刘光世) commanded the Southern Song army while General Wan Yanchang (完颜昌) led the forces of the Jin.

The two armies were of equal strength and neither side was able to advance on the other.

General Liu decided to try to break the stalemate through the use of an unusual instrument of propaganda.

He minted coins.

The coins were not meant to circulate as currency, however, because they were created to achieve the specific military goal of inciting defections among the enemy ranks.

The coins were made of bronze (copper), just like the common Chinese cash coins, but a few were made of silver and some of gold.

At the left is the image of one of the bronze coins.  The inscription, written in regular script (kai shu 楷书), is read in a clockwise rotation as zhao na xin bao (招纳信宝).

The coin inscription zhao na xin bao (招纳信宝) is explained as follows.  Zhao (招) means “to beckon” or “recruit”.  Na (纳) translates as “to admit” or “to accept”.  Xin (信) is a “letter”.  Bao (宝) is a “treasure” which is the term that was used on Chinese cash coins (coins with a square hole in the middle) for two thousand years.

This rare coin is in the collection of the Hangzhou Museum (杭州博物馆).  The coin was donated to the museum in 2006 by the family of Mr. Ma Dingxiang (马定祥) who was one of the most respected Chinese numismatists of the 20th century.

The coin has a diameter of 2.6 cm and a weight of 5 grams.  One of the easily observed characteristics of these coins is that the bao (宝) character, at the left of the square hole, is unusually “tall”.

According to this article, the National Museum of China (中国国家博物馆) also has a bronze zhao na xin bao coin in its collection.

General Liu knew that many of the soldiers in the Jin army were ethnic Han Chinese  (汉族), and not Jurchen (女真族), and that they had been forced to serve in the Jin military.  He felt that many of these men were probably homesick and would like to escape and return to their homes.

General Liu implemented a new policy with the casting of the coins.  When Jin soldiers were captured, instead of being killed, they were treated very well.  The captured Jin soldiers were shown the newly minted coins and told that anyone carrying one of these special coins could return safely to their home. The captured Jin soldiers were then given the coins and told to return to the Jin army and give the coins to any of their compatriots who wished to desert and return home.

The soldiers returned to the Jin encampment and secretly distributed the coins to the other soldiers who wanted to leave.

The inscription zhao na xin bao (招纳信宝) therefore means it is a “treasure” or coin (bao 宝) that is “recruiting” (zhao 招) soldiers of the Jin who want to return home.  They will be warmly “accepted” (na 纳) into the Song army encampment and the coin would serve as their “letter (xin 信) of introduction”.

Mr. Ding Fubao (丁福保) points out in his authoritative “Dictionary of Ancient [Chinese] Coins” (古钱大辞典) that zhao na (招纳) has the meaning of “submitting to the authority of another” (gui fu 归附).  The inscription could therefore be interpreted to mean that the bearer of the coin can trust that he will be able to safely return to the authority of the Song.

Noted Chinese numismatists have proposed English translations of the coin inscription as  “Trust Token for Recruits” and “Pass Coins“.

The reverse side of the coin, seen in the rubbings at the left, show the Chinese character shi (使) above the square hole. “Shi” (使) means “a messenger” or “envoy” which implies that the coin and bearer are on an official mission.

Below the square hole is a symbol that resembles the Chinese character shang (上) although it is reversed left to right and thus facing the wrong direction.  The consensus of Chinese numismatists is that this is actually a “signature”, and possibly that of Liu (刘), although the exact translation has yet to be determined.

As mentioned above, some of these coins were also cast in silver and gold.  Several Chinese coin references mention that in the past a few specimens of these coins were in the hands of private collectors.  Unfortunately, the current location of these coins is unknown.

However, a Chinese reference (中华珍泉追踪录) provides some information regarding the silver version of the coin.  During the Republican period (1912-1949), Mr. Fang Dishan (方地山) had a silver specimen in his collection.  Mr. Yuan Hanyun (袁寒云) described this coin as being slightly larger than the bronze version.  The shi (使) character above the square hole on the reverse side was slightly smaller.  Most noteworthy, however, was that the character below the hole was not a “reverse” shang (上) like that on the bronze coin.  The character resembled a 凵 (kan) with a 禾 (he) in the middle.  This apparently was a signature but, again, the meaning is unclear.

Mr. Fang Dishan passed away in 1936 and it is not known what happened to his silver coin.

Regarding the gold version of the coin, the Baidu Encyclopedia reports that Mr. Chen Rentao (陈仁涛) owned a specimen.  Mr. Chen passed away in 1968 and I have not been able to determine the whereabouts of this coin which is considered “priceless” and a “first-class cultural relic” (一级文物).

According to historical records, the coins achieved their goal as an instrument of psychological warfare.  These coins guaranteeing freedom persuaded tens of thousands of Jin conscripts to defect to the Song.  Some of the men decided not to return home but instead to join the fight on the side of the Song.  The recruits were organized into two new armies, namely the “Red Hearts” (chi xin 赤心) and the “Army Appearing from Nowhere” (qi bing 奇兵).  The flood of deserters, which included not only Han Chinese but also Jurchen and Khitan (契丹), was so great that General Wan and the Jin army were forced to retreat.

Because the coins were issued over a very short period of time and circulated in a very limited area, very few authentic specimens have survived.

These coins are quite rare and valuable.  An authentic bronze zhao na xin bao coin would sell today for about 100,000 RMB ($14,500).  As mentioned earlier, the silver and gold coins are so rare that they are essentially priceless.

Unfortunately, most of the zhao na xin bao coins seen today are fakes or reproductions.

The Western Xia (Xi Xia 西夏  1038-1227) was an empire situated between the Song (宋朝) and the Liao (辽朝).

Until very recently, Chinese numismatists were aware that the coins of the Western Xia had inscriptions written in the native Tangut script (xi xia wen 西夏文) or one of the calligraphic styles of Chinese with the notable exception of Seal script.

It was therefore considered a major discovery in 1984 when a cache of coins was unearthed in Ningxia (宁夏) that included a Western Xia coin written in Seal script (纂书).  The coin was a guang ding yuan bao (光定元宝) cast during the reign (1211-1223) of Emperor Shenzong (李遵頊).

This coin has a diameter of 25.3 mm, a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 4.3 grams.

A second specimen was unearthed in 2002 in Shaanxi (陕西省), and then a third specimen was dug up in Inner Mongolia (内蒙古自治区).  With additional excavations in the area of Tongxin County (同心县) in Ningxia, there are now more than 10 authentic specimens of guang ding yuan bao written in Seal script known to exist.

It was believed that these guang ding yuan bao coins cast towards the very end of the dynasty were the only Western Xia coins produced with a Seal script inscription.

In 2012, however, a farmer digging in a field in Tongxin County, Ningxia uncovered a  cache of Western Xia coins that included a different coin written in Seal script.  The inscription was qian you yuan bao (乾祐元宝) which indicates that the coin was cast during the reign (1170 – 1193) of Emperor Renzong (李仁孝).

Coin catalogues through the centuries had documented this coin being cast in Regular or Running scripts but not in Seal script.

This newly discovered coin, shown at the left, is the only qian you yuan bao written in Seal script known to exist according to an article written by  Dr. Zhu Hu (朱浒) of the Art Research Institute of East China Normal University (华东师范大学艺术研究所) published earlier this year in “China Numismatics” (2016年1期).

The inscription (乾祐元宝) written in Seal script is read in a clockwise rotation starting at the top.

The coin has a diameter of 25.4 mm, a thickness of 1.5 mm and a weight of 3.3 grams.

The inscription can be seen in greater detail in the rubbing of the coin shown at the left.

The Seal script you (祐) character, at the right of the square hole, is in the same style as the you found on inscriptions from coins cast during the Northern Song dynasty (北宋 960-1126) such as jing you yuan bao (景祐元宝 1034-1038), jia you yuan bao (嘉祐元宝 1056-1063), and yuan you tong bao (元祐通宝 1086-1093).

The Seal script yuan (元) character, located below the square hole, is very similar to the yuan found on the Northern Song xuan he yuan bao (宣和元宝 1119-1125) coins.

The Seal script bao (宝) character, to the left of the square hole, mimics the bao found on the Northern Song zheng he tong bao (政和通宝 1111-1117) and xuan he yuan bao (宣和元宝 1119-1125) coins.

It is clear that the Seal script inscription on the newly discovered qian you yuan bao was greatly influenced by the style of the Northern Song coins.

As mentioned above, the qian you yuan bao was the second type of Western Xia coinage found to have been cast in Seal script in addition to the more common Regular and Running script varieties.

A few differences can be seen in comparing these two Seal script coins.

An image of an authentic guang ding yuan bao in Seal script may be seen at this Chinese website, but for our purposes we can look at the rubbing at the left.

The yuan (元) character of the guang ding yuan bao has more “twists and turns” while that of the qian you yuan bao is more “dignified”.  Also, the last stroke of the yuan character of the guang ding yuan bao touches the rim which is not the case with the yuan on the qian you yuan bao.

The “crown” of the bao (宝) character of the guang ding yuan bao is more “square” while that of the qian you yuan bao is more “round”.

These characteristics are also found on the Seal script coins of the Song.

Dr. Zhu advances a theory as to why Seal script inscriptions only appeared on Western Xia coins toward the end of the dynasty.  When the dynasty was established in 1038, the Tangut people (党项族) discarded the Chinese written language and rejected Chinese clothing in an effort to restore their original national character.  They created their own writing system known as Tangut and the first coins had inscriptions written only in Tangut.

By the time of Emperor Ren Zong’s Qian You reign (1139 – 1193), however, there was political stability, economic prosperity, and less warfare.  The Emperor attached importance to education and the establishment of schools including an Imperial Academy.  He established an imperial examination system similar to that of the Chinese.  There was also greater respect for Confucianism and the culture of the Song.  This period was considered to be the heyday of Western Xia rule.

The first Western Xia coinage had inscriptions only in Tangut but the Song dynasty custom of casting “Matched Coins” (dui qian 对钱), where two or more different calligraphy styles were used on coins of the same period title, continued during the Western Xia.  These styles included Official script (Li Shu 隶书),  Regular script (Zhen Shu 真书), Running script (Xing Shu 行书), and Grass script (Cao Shu 草书).

With the recent discoveries of the qian you yuan bao and guang ding yuan bao coins, the Seal script (Zhuan Shu 纂书) has now been added to the calligraphic styles used to form the “Matched Coins” of the Western Xia.

Discovery of a new Chinese coin variety is a rare occurrence nowadays so the Seal script qian you yuan bao caused great excitement among collectors.  The discovery also means that the qian you yuan bao is the only Western Xia coin known to exist in three calligraphic varieties, namely Regular, Running and Seal scripts.

The fact that this coin is very well-made and, to date, is one of a kind, lends credence to the belief that the coin may be a trial piece and that very few were actually cast for circulation.

During the reign (998-1022) of Emperor Zhenzong (真宗) of the Northern Song dynasty (北宋), a small quantity of cash coins were minted that had very broad rims and/or were very thick.  Chinese coin collectors refer to these coins as bing qian (饼钱) which translates as “biscuit” coins or “cake” coins.

This was not the first time such biscuit money had been produced.  Wang Mang (王莽) of the Xin dynasty (新朝) during his reign (7-23) also cast huo quan (货泉) coins that were very thick and heavy.  However, this earlier cake money did not have the very broad rims that distinguish the Song dynasty biscuit coins.

Emperor Zhenzong of the Song issued regular cash coins under four different reign periods: xian ping (咸平 998-1003), jing de (景德 1004-1007), da zhong xiang fu (大中祥符 1008-1016) and tian xi (天禧 1017-1021).

However, only during the xian ping and xiang fu regnal periods were biscuit coins produced having the inscriptions xian ping yuan bao (咸平元宝) and xiang fu yuan bao (祥符元宝), respectively.

No authentic biscuit coins with the inscriptions jing de yuan bao (景德元宝) or tian xi tong bao (天禧通宝) are known to exist.

Shown above is an outstanding example of a xian ping yuan bao biscuit coin.  The coin is large and heavy and has an extremely broad rim which slopes downward near the edge.

The reverse side, shown below, also has a very wide rim.

You will also notice that the corners of the square hole on the reverse side extend outwards towards the rim.  This is known as si jue (四诀) and is only found on certain Song dynasty coins.

Common xian ping yuan bao cash coins have diameters of 2.14 – 2.6 mm and weigh 2.2 – 5.8 grams.

In contrast, this specimen has a diameter of 46.7 mm and weighs 73.2 grams.

The coin sold at auction in 2013 for US$2,623  (RMB 17,250).

The reason why these broad-rimmed and heavy coins were produced is still unknown.

Mr. Sun Zhonghui (孙仲汇), a well-known Chinese numismatist, wrote in 古錢幣圖解 (gu qian bi tu jie) that these coins were definitely cast during the Song dynasty.  The coins are not standardized and their size and weight varies.  He states that further research is needed to determine what their value was at the time and whether or not they actually circulated as currency.

Mr. Sun further states that many of these coins have been found in Sichuan (四川).  During the Song dynasty, the government expropriated copper items and copper (bronze) cash coins resulting in a copper shortage in the province.  The coins that circulated were made of iron.  Because of the copper shortage, the purchasing power of the iron coins fell drastically while that of the copper coins soared.  Because large and heavy copper coins like these biscuit coins would have had real value, Mr. Sun feels the probability is very good that these coins circulated as currency.

Shown below is perhaps the most famous of the Song dynasty biscuit coins.

This huge xian ping yuan bao biscuit coin was owned by Mr. Ma Dingxiang (马定祥) who was regarded as one of the most respected Chinese numismatists of the 20th Century.  (For some other famous coins owned by Mr. Ma Dingxiang, please see The King of Qing Dynasty Coins, State of Qin Silver Banliang Coin, and Vault Protector Coins.)

The coin has a diameter measuring 66 mm but, unfortunately, the weight is not specified.  Nevertheless, it is the largest Song dynasty biscuit coin known to exist and the only specimen of its kind.

This coin was listed at an auction in 2008 with an estimated price of $9,124 – $15,207  (RMB 60,000 – 100,000).

Other representative examples of xian ping yuan bao biscuit coins are listed below:

• 26.5 mm/10.68 gram specimen may be seen here
• 26.5 mm specimen auctioned here
• 28.4 mm specimen shown here
• 30.1 mm/2.5 mm thick specimen seen here
• 32.5 mm specimen auctioned here
• 34.0 mm specimen from the collection of Mr. Sun Zhonghui (孙仲汇) shown here
• 44.0 mm/6 mm thick/72.0 gram specimen with si chu (四出) auctioned here

Regarding Song dynasty biscuit coins, there are far fewer xiang fu yuan bao (祥符元宝) known to exist than xian ping yuan bao.  An example of a xiang fu yuan bao biscuit coin with a diameter of 26.4 mm was listed at this auction in Shanghai in 2014.