Category: Chinese coins

In the early 1970’s, Buddhist monks digging in the courtyard of the Chengtian Temple (承天寺) in Quanzhou (泉州), Fujian Province in order to bury jars of a traditional Chinese medicine known as “golden juice” (jinzhi 金汁) made a startling discovery.  They uncovered clay moulds (qianfan 钱范) used to cast ancient Chinese coins.

It was not until much later, in April of 2002, that archaeologists began a formal excavation.  At a depth of about 3 meters they discovered more than a thousand clay mould fragments.

The clay moulds were confirmed to have been used to cast the yong long tong bao (永隆通宝) iron coins made during the yong long reign (939-944 AD) of Wang Yanxi (王延曦) of the ancient Kingdom of Min (闽).

The actual location of the Kingdom of Min mint is not mentioned in the historical records.  The large number of mould fragments discovered at the site therefore confirms that the mint was located in Quanzhou.

With the discovery of this coin-casting site, Quanzhou becomes the only known mint site from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (wudai shiguo 五代十国).

The reason for the large number of broken clay moulds has to do with the casting method employed at the time.  A two-piece clay mould was made with a small hole in which the molten iron could be poured.  Once the metal had hardened, the mould had to be broken to remove the coin.  Each mold could therefore only be used to make one coin.

Yong long tong bao coins are very rare.  It is estimated that only two specimens exist in China’s museums and that perhaps only about 100 specimens are in the hands of private Chinese coin collectors.  The reason for the scarcity has to do with the short period of time (one year seven months) the coins were cast, the fact that iron rusts and deteriorates, the limited area in which the coins circulated, and the method of casting.

Besides iron, a very few specimens of the coin are known to exist made of bronze.  An even smaller number are made of lead.

As can be seen from the images of the moulds above, the coins have the character min (闽) above the square hole on the reverse side and a “crescent” (月) below the hole.  Some examples have a dot or “star” (星) to the right or left of the hole.

Iron was used to cast the coins because the Quanzhou area had ample supplies of iron and coal but lacked copper reserves.  Even though the casting technique was the same as had been used since even much more ancient times, the technology had at least evolved to the point where Chinese inscriptions could be clearly cast.  This means the molten iron had to be at a temperature of at least 1535°C.

Experts consider it particularly fortunate to have discovered these clay moulds.  It is rare for such cultural objects to survive in climates that receive more than 1200 mm of rain per year as is the case with Quanzhou.  This is believed to be one of the major reasons that no other sites which cast coins with clay moulds have been discovered this far south.

The coin moulds are presently on display in a special exhibition room in Quanzhou.

As mentioned above, this discovery may not have ever been made if it were not for some Buddhist monks digging at the Chengtian Temple.  The monks were digging a hole to bury “golden juice”.

“Golden juice” is a traditional Chinese medicine from the Quanzhou area.  It is made by mixing together the feces of preadolescent boys, spring water and “red soil” (红土).  The solution is then stored in a clay jar which is buried at a depth of about 3 meters.  The jars are left in the ground for 30-40 years and then dug up.

“Golden juice” is taken orally and is considered to be particularly efficacious in the treatment of high fevers.

The picture at the left shows about 40 jars of “golden juice” being dug up at Chengtian Temple after having been buried for some 38 years.

This was the last batch of “golden juice” made in 1973.

There is concern that interest in maintaining some of the local techniques of traditional Chinese medicine are dying off with the passing of the older generation.

In the past, jars of “golden juice” that were dug up would be replaced with new jars so that there would be a steady supply.

According to the article, people have lost interest in collecting and processing the excrement and, as a result, the jars are not being replaced.

The “golden juice” of Quanzhou may be destined to be another casualty in the rapid modernization of China.

The largest cache of ancient coins ever discovered in China’s western Xinjiang Province has been unearthed in Kucha (库车), the ancient capital of the Qiuci Kingdom (龟兹), according to a recent article published in the Chinese press.

Mr. Chen Wei (陈伟), the Vice Bureau Chief of the Kucha Prefecture Bureau of Cultural Relics, revealed that more than 14,000 coin were recovered which is even larger than the previous record discovery made in 2007.

According to Mr. Chen, his bureau was notified on July 16, 2012 of a large cache of ancient coins found during an excavation at a construction site.  He and his team immediately went to the site to remove the large hoard of coins.

The coins included wu zhu (“Five Zhu” 五铢), chiselled rim wu zhu (剪边五铢), huo quan (“Money Coin” 货泉) and da quan wu shi (“Large Coin Fifty” 大泉五十) from the Wang Mang period (王莽 7-23 AD), small bronze qiuci coins without inscriptions (龟兹无文小铜钱) and quici wu zhu coins (龟兹小五铢).

The coins are believed to have been buried sometime during the period between the Eastern Han (东汉) and Wei Jin (魏晋) which would be about 1700 years ago.

The most startling discovery, however, was one specimen of a tai ping bai qian (太平百钱) coin, shown at left, which was cast by the Kingdom of Shu (蜀汉 221-265 AD) during the Three Kingdoms (三国时期 220-280 AD).

According to Mr. Chen, this was the first coin from the Three Kingdoms period ever discovered in Xinjiang.

Mr. Chen stated that the experts are unable to explain how this coin came to be found in Xinjiang.  He speculated that perhaps there was some “mysterious contact” at the time.  In any case, the experts hope to be able to unravel the mystery after further research.

A large number of pottery shards and fragments of human bones were also discovered so it is possible that the site is actually an ancient graveyard.

According to a televised report by China Central Television (CCTV 中国中央电视台) on August 18, 2012, what may be the smallest Chinese coin ever discovered has been unearthed in Zaozhuang (枣庄), a city in China’s eastern province of Shandong (山东省).

The coin is described as being paper-thin with a rough edge and no larger than a fingernail.

The coin has no inscription but is believed to have been privately cast about 1500 years ago during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (557-589 AD) which was a particularly chaotic time in Chinese history.

The report states that “money-mad governors and greedy landlords” privately minted these coins to “squeeze poor peasants”, and that 10,000 of these coins would not have been enough to buy even one bowl of rice.

The CCTV video in English, which shows an image of the coin, may be seen here.

The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that a Korean scholar believes a previously unknown inscription on a 2,500-year-old Chinese knife-shaped form of money is actually written in Korean.

Dr. Lee Chan-gu is an expert on the ancient Chinese book of divination known as the “Book of Changes” (I Ching, yijing 易经).  In his new book entitled “Money”, Dr. Lee claims that the inscription on a specimen of Chinese knife-shaped money (daobi 刀币) dating from the middle to late Spring and Autumn Period (771 BC – 476 BC) is written in the Korean alphabet known as Hangul (한글).

The “pointed tip knife” (jian shou dao 尖首刀), shown at the left, was discovered in northeast China and has been included in such famous Chinese numismatic works as the “Xu Quan Hui” (续泉汇) published in 1875 by Li Zuoxian (李佐贤) as well as the Pre-Qin Volume of the “The Great Dictionary of Chinese Numismatics” (中国钱币大辞典:先秦篇) published in 1995.

These authoritative works state that the inscription is written in “unknown characters” (未知文字).

Dr. Lee claims that the “unidentified” inscription is written in ancient Korean characters and is the Korean word don (돈) which means “money”.

Dr. Lee’s premise has evoked a great deal of controversy among scholars in both Korea and China.

The fundamental question is how a specimen of ancient Chinese “knife money” could possibly have an inscription written in Korean when Sejong the Great (King Sejong) of the Joseon Dynasty did not even invent the Korean alphabet Hangul until 1443-1444 AD, which was some 2,000 years later.

The answer, according to Dr. Lee, is found in a document written by Sejong the Great in 1446.  In “The Proper Sounds for Instructing the People” (Hunmin jeongeum 훈 민정음 해), Sejong the Great reveals that some of his new writing system imitates an ancient Korean script.

Dr. Lee believes that the inscription on this knife money is evidence that Sejong the Great did indeed incorporate ancient Korean characters in the Hangul script he invented.

It is believed that this particular example of “knife money” originated in the ancient state of Guzhu (guzhuquo 孤竹国) which was situated in northeast China and was a vassal state during the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

According to the ancient Korean historical text “Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea” (samguk yusa 삼국유사, 三國遺事), the people of Guzhu also lived on the Korean peninsula and the traditions of Guzhu continued under the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (고구려,高句丽).

Based on this, Dr. Lee speculates that the Korean script first began to be used about 3000 years ago in the area of Guzhu.

This new theory challenges the accepted view of the origin of the written Korean language.  Many scholars, however, remain skeptical and are reluctant to accept Dr. Lee’s theory without additional proof.

China faced a severe shortage of small denomination coins at the end of the Qing Dynasty.  To help alleviate the shortage, the Guangdong mint in the year 1900 began to produce a new style coin that was radically different from the hand-cast bronze “cash” coins with the square hole that had been used for more than 2,000 years.

The new coins were made of copper and did not have a hole in the center.  Moreover, these coins were produced by machines.

The Chinese referred to the new coins as tong yuan (铜元) or tong ban (铜板) and they were minted in denominations of 1 Cash, 2 Cash, 5 Cash, 10 Cash, 20 Cash and 30 Cash.

The new style coins were immediately well-received by both the Chinese people and the merchants because they were uniformly well-made, of standard size and weight, and convenient to carry.

Because of the warm reception, more and more of the coins were minted.  The coins were also profitable to make.

The mints in the other Chinese provinces quickly noticed the trend and within a short period of time there were 20 coin bureaus operating in 17 of China’s provinces producing the new copper coins.  The tong yuan coins quickly replaced the traditional “cash” coins to become the major form of small denomination coins in circulation.

But anytime a new form of currency is introduced, counterfeit versions soon begin to appear.  The 10 Cash (十文) coin in particular was a prime target for counterfeiters.

The first “counterfeiters” were actually the official mints themselves.  The mints were given quotas to fill but because the coins reaped a good profit, the mints began to “privately” (局私) produce the coins in quantities which exceeded their official quotas.

Also, as has always been the case throughout China’s long history, individual Chinese began to illegally produce coins.

And as we shall see, foreigners became involved in counterfeiting the new coins as well.

Certain 10 Cash coins can be immediately identified as counterfeit because they tend to be poorly struck and especially because they show traces of inscriptions and symbols not found on the officially minted coins.

An example of such a coin is shown at the left.

Upon close examination, it is obvious to Chinese coin collectors that the counterfeiters used a Korean “5 Fun” (五分) denomination coin as the blank to mint this Chinese “10 Cash” coin.  The Chinese refer to these overstruck coins as han gai ban (韩改版).

Chinese numismatists have traditionally assumed it was certain Chinese mints that had used the Korean coins as planchets to make the 10 Cash coins.  According to the theory, the Korean coins were used as planchets during the testing of the new coin presses.

A recent article by Ye Zhenming (叶真铭) in the Chinese periodical qianbi (钱币), however, provides a different explanation.

According to Mr. Ye, the overstruck coins were the result of collusion between Japanese “Ronins” (“wave men” 浪人) and some “unscrupulous” Korean merchants.  A Ronin was a Japanese samurai who did not have a master and was therefore considered an outsider to society.  Since it was difficult for Ronins to find legal employment, they sometimes turned to criminal activities.

The new coinage of China provided a lucrative opportunity for some of the Ronins.

These Ronins discovered that the Chinese mints were importing copper billet from Japan to make the new coins.  The mints found that importing the copper billet was convenient and the price still allowed for a good profit margin.

The Ronins were able to obtain their own supply of Japanese copper billet.  They had engravers forge coin dies based on the official mint dies and, using hand operated presses, began to counterfeit the new copper coins.

It was not long, however, before these Ronins discovered an even cheaper supply of copper blanks for the coins.

The Koreans began minting modern copper coins in 1892, eight years before the Chinese.  These denomination “5 Fun” Korean coins were similar in size and weight to the new Chinese 10 Cash coins.

The Ronins realized that using the Korean coins as planchets for Chinese 10 cash coins could be very profitable.

This was due to the relative values of silver and copper.  At the time, one Chinese silver dollar could buy more than 200 of the Korean copper coins.

But by overstriking the Korean coins to create Chinese 10 cash coins, the counterfeiters could then exchange ten of the coins for one silver dollar.  The profit margin was thus very high.

The Ronins were able to partner with some unscrupulous Korean businessmen to obtain their supplies of Korean 5 Fun coins.

However, because the pressure from the hand-operated presses used by the counterfeiters was not sufficient to totally obliterate the inscription and symbols on the Korean 5 Fun coin, the counterfeit Chinese 10 Cash coins usually exhibit a combination of both the Chinese and Korean designs.

For example, at the left is the reverse side of an overstruck counterfeit coin.  In the middle can be seen the dragon design found on Chinese 10 Cash coins.

You will also notice that there are traces of a wreath surrounding the dragon.  The wreath is the remnant of the design from the Korean 5 Fun coin that served as the planchet to make the counterfeit coin.

The wreath can be clearly seen on the reverse side of the Korean 5 Fun coin shown at the left.

If you closely examine the obverse side of the coin (shown above), you will also notice that traces of the original Korean coin inscription are still present.

These counterfeit copper coins were mainly put into circulation in China’s coastal regions where they easily mixed in with the officially minted Chinese coins.

Most of the counterfeit dies used to make these coins state “made in Zhejiang Province” or “made in Shandong Province”.  In reality, the coins could have been made anywhere but coins with inscriptions stating they were “made” in other provinces are fewer in number.

The true origin of these overstruck coins has puzzled Chinese numismatists for years.  The traditional explanation has been that they were created during testing of the new presses by the Chinese mints.

This new explanation is consistent with the economic situation that existed at the time.  It also introduces a degree of foreign intrigue with the involvement of Japanese samurai and Korean businessmen.

Chinese archaeologists frequently unearth ancient coins at tomb sites.  While old Chinese coins do not have actual dates on them, they do have inscriptions which can help date the site being excavated.

Having been buried for hundreds or thousands of years, it is quite common for these old bronze coins to be so severely corroded that the inscriptions cannot be read.

Coin collectors are always warned not to clean coins because the process will lessen the value of the coin or even ruin it.

But what do Chinese archaeologists do when they have a coin that is too corroded to identify but which could potentially provide valuable information as to when the tomb was built?

An article discussing a tomb being excavated in the city of Fuzhou (福州) in Fujian Province provides the answer.

More than ten old Chinese cash coins were discovered during the dig but could not be identified because of heavy corrosion.

If you have seen archaeologists at a site then you know they work very slowly and methodically to avoid any damage to the buried cultural relics.

You might expect they would employ a similar degree of care when it comes to cleaning coins.

In this case, however, the archaeologists were less concerned about preserving the coins than just being able to identify them.

The archaeologists simply put the coins in vinegar, which is a mild acid, to soak for two or three days to remove the surface dirt and corrosion.  The coins were then removed and a common toothpick was used to scrap out any corrosion in the Chinese characters.  Finally, a rubbing was made of the coins.

While the coins would certainly not be very pretty after such treatment, the rubbing did reveal the inscription as sheng song yuan bao (圣宋元宝).

Sheng song yuan bao coins were cast during the reign of Emperor Huizong (徽宗) of the Northern Song Dynasty beginning in the year 1101.

An “uncleaned” sheng song yuan bao coin, which would be similar to the ones found in the tomb, is shown at the left.

The archaeologists were quick to point out that this discovery does not necessarily mean that the tomb dates from the Northern Song because in ancient China coins continued to circulate for many years after they were produced.

The archaeologists speculate that once the tomb is completely excavated it may be determined to actually be from the slightly later Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

We usually picture archaeologists as using soft brushes to gently remove dirt from cultural artifacts but sometimes more aggressive measures are used on ancient coins when they are the key to dating a site.

More than 100 local villagers were seen busily overturning rocks in a small flood plain area of Sichuan Province’s “Golden Horse River” (金马河) once word spread that a large number of ancient Chinese coins had been discovered, according to a report by the Sichuan News Network (四川新闻网).

Villagers of the Wenjiang District (温江区) of Chengdu City (成都市) arrived with shovels, hoes, sickles and any other digging implement they could find to turn over the cobblestones.

Casual observers first thought the villagers were digging up edible “whip worms” (皮鞭虫) before they realized that there was real “treasure” buried there.

Some of the treasure hunters came away with several kilograms of coins while others were only able to find 10 or 20 coins.

The discovery is considered particularly unusual because, unlike most hoards, these bronze cash coins come from many different dynasties.

The oldest coins are wu zhu (五铢) coins from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and huo quan (货泉) coins dating from Wang Mang’s Xin Dynasty (7-23 AD).

The most recent coins were cast during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (乾隆 1736-1795) and the Guangxu Emperor (光绪 1875-1908) of the Qing Dynasty.

The coins thus span almost 2,000 years of Chinese history.

The vast majority of coins, however, are from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  Most have the inscription kai yuan tong bao (开元通宝) but some have the inscription qian yuan zhong bao (乾元重宝).

The frantic activity attracted the notice of the authorities who immediately called in the police to prevent further “looting” and to protect the site.

Experts from the local Bureau of Cultural Relics were also dispatched to carry out research.

The Chengdu archaeologists determined that the coins were strewn over an area approximately 200 meters long and 100 meters wide.  The archaeologists themselves were able to dig up more than 5 kilograms of coins in a short period of time.

While it still has not been determined how the ancient coins came to be scattered along the rocky bottom of the Golden Horse River, two of the archaeologists were willing to speculate.

Mr. Liu Yumao (刘雨茂) said that throughout history, it has been the custom to place old coins into structures built for irrigation and water conservancy as a means to promote good fortune and to avoid disaster.  He said the coins may have been buried in such a structure that eroded and washed away over time.  The coins could then have been carried by the river current and deposited in this area.

As to why the majority of coins are from the Tang Dynasty, Mr. Wang Zongxiong (王仲雄) said that in olden times heavy cargoes were transported by rivers and canals.  It is possible that during the Tang Dynasty a boat carrying coins may have sunk and the coins were hidden underwater until now.

According to the cultural relics experts, it is not practical to try to excavate or even preserve the site because of the possibility of flood waters suddenly appearing.

The authorities are encouraging the villagers not to continue to dig for coins or worms because of the danger.

Although the coins are very old, they are still considered to be very common.

Nevertheless, the villagers are asked to return all the coins to the authorities because, according to law, all cultural relics buried on land or found in the waters or seas within the territorial boundaries of China are considered to be the property of the state.

The official New China News Agency (新华社) revealed in 1997 that Chinese archaeologists working in the southwestern province of Yunnan had unearthed a huge Ming Dynasty coin which was described as the largest and heaviest ancient Chinese coin ever found.

The coin was cast during the reign of Emperor Shi Zong (1522-1567) to commemorate the opening of a mint in dongchuanfu (东川府) which is now known as Huize County (会泽县).

This commemorative coin (开炉钱) is now on display at the Huize County Lead and Zinc Mine Archives (会泽县的铅锌矿档案馆).

The inscription on this giant bronze cash coin reads jia jing tong bao (嘉靖通宝).

The coin has a diameter of 57.8 cm (22.8 in), a thickness of 3.7 cm (1.5 in) and a weight of 41.5 kg (91.5 lbs).

An assay in 1990 revealed that the coin is primarily composed of 91% copper, 3% lead, 0.6% zinc and 0.6% aluminum.

While the history of this region dates back more than 2,000 years, bronze cash coins did not circulate until very late.  Cowrie shells were still being used as a form of money even into the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).  The economy relied to a great extent on barter.  The upper class used silver for their purchases.

The casting of coins required approval from the imperial government.  It was not until the jia jing period (1522-1567) when large-scale copper mining and smelting were permitted in the area.  Yunnan’s rich mineral resources coupled with China’s mature casting technology were then used to produce these first bronze coins with the jia jing tong bao inscription.

Following the reign of Emperor Shi Zong, coins continued to be cast at this mint for the succeeding Ming rulers.  These coins included Emperor Shen Zong’s wan li tong bao (万历通宝 1573-1620), Emperor Xi Zong’s tian qi tong bao (天启通宝 1621-1627), and Emperor Si Zong’s chong zhen tong bao (崇祯通宝 1628-1644).

Coins of the Southern Ming, including the yong li tong bao (永历通宝 1646-1659) of Prince Yongming (永明王) and the xing chao tong bao (兴朝通宝 1648-1657) of Sun Kewang (孙可望), were also cast at this mint.

With the establishment of the mint, and following the casting of the special commemorative coin, standard “cash coins” with the the same jia jing tong bao inscription were cast.  Additionally, a few larger denomination coins with the jia jing tong bao inscription were produced in values equivalent to 2, 3, 5 and 10 of the smaller “cash” coins.  All of these larger denomination coins are now rare.

However, even the largest “Value 10” coin, with a diameter of 4.5 cm (1.8 in), pales in comparison with the special commemorative coin made to celebrate the first use of the furnace to cast bronze coins at the new mint.

Chinese archaeologists working at an ancient stone pagoda in Hainan Province (海南省) recently made a discovery which will help to establish the date when the pagoda was originally built.

An article in the October 27, 2011 edition of the Haikou Evening News (海口晚报) describes the restoration work being done at the Rufu Stone Pagoda (儒符石塔) near Haikou.  The pagoda is distinctive because it is built from volcanic rock but has fallen into disrepair over the centuries.

Few records exist concerning the history of the pagoda with the oldest references dating to the Ming Dynasty.

The pagoda is believed to have been built during the late Song Dynasty but no historical evidence exists to prove this.

The Buddhist pagoda is one of the oldest structures in the province and its design reflects Indian influences.

While working at the base of the pagoda a worker discovered a hidden vault.

Inside the vault was a stone tortoise-shaped box.

According to Mr. Wang Daxin (王大新), the Director of the Haikou City Bureau of Cultural Relics (海口市文物局), the tortoise box contained a number of items.

In the box were more that seventy Chinese bronze coins.  Remarkably, the coins still retain remnants of the cord with which they had been bound together.

The majority of the coins have the inscription tai ping tong bao (太平通宝) which means they were cast during the years 976-989 of the reign of Emperor Tai Zong of the Song Dynasty.

Coins are always considered an important find because they can be accurately dated.  Since the majority of the coins are tai ping tong bao, it is most likely that the pagoda was built during this same time period.

Among the most puzzling artifacts found in the box, however, were six metal tablets.  Originally thought to be made of tin, after cleaning they were found to be made of silver.  Unfortunately, three of the tablets were too fragile to be cleaned so they are being kept in their original state.  This also means that their inscriptions cannot be read.

Of the other three silver tablets, two have auspicious connotations.  One has the inscription fu de chang shou (福德长寿) which translates as “good fortune, virtue and a long life”.  Another has the inscription qian yuan heng li zhen (乾元亨利贞) which is a cryptic phrase from the ancient Chinese “Book of Changes” (I Ching 易经).

The last silver tablet, displayed above, has the inscription wang gang da sheng (王刚大圣).  The experts are still trying to understand the meaning of this inscription.

Mr. Wang made clear that while the archaeologists continue to study the cultural relics found at the site, the work to restore the pagoda to its original state is continuing with completion of the project expected by the end of this year.

Lu Xun (鲁迅 1881-1936) is recognized as one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th Century and the founder of modern Chinese literature.

Few people, however, are aware of Lu Xun’s contributions to Chinese numismatics.  He was not only a collector of ancient Chinese coins but he also wrote a manuscript annotating Chinese coins from the 7th to the 17th Century.

According to a Xinhua news dispatch, this treatise on Chinese coins written by Lu Xun is now being published for the first time in commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The manuscript was written in 1913 while Lu Xun was working for the Ministry of Education in Peking (Beijing).  During that time, he began to study ancient books on Chinese coins and he frequently went to Liulichang (琉璃厂) to buy old Chinese coins for his own collection.

Lu Xun was familiar with the famous work on Chinese coins known as Quan Zhi (泉志) written by Hong Zun (洪遵) in 1149 during the Song Dynasty.  The Quan Zhi has the honor of being recognized as the world’s oldest extant coin book.

The Quan Zhi annotated the various forms of Chinese money from the very earliest times to the Song Dynasty.  Lu Xun wanted to supplement this great work.  In his manuscript, he wrote about Chinese coins beginning with those of the Tang and Five Dynasties and ending with the coins of the Ming Dynasty.  He cataloged 1,311 different coins from this time period thus adding an additional 700 years to the field of numismatic research.

But Lu Xun’s involvement in Chinese numismatics went even further for he was actually involved in the design of one of the coins of the time.

According to an entry in Lu Xun’s diary dated August 28, 1912, he along with two colleagues, Xu Shouchang (许寿裳) and Qian Taoxun (钱韬逊), designed a twelve symbol emblem.

This emblem, seen on the coin at the left, was designed by Lu Xun to be the national emblem for the newly established Republic of China.

Lu Xun incorporated into the design the auspicious elements known as the Twelve Symbols (十二章), which date from the Spring  and Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC), that had traditionally been used on the clothing of Chinese emperors.

These ancient symbols include the dragon and pheasant.  However,  the Chinese have traditionally mistaken the pheasant (雉) as being a phoenix (凤) and so the design is usually referred to as the “dragon and phoenix”.

Besides the dragon and pheasant (“phoenix”), the Twelve Symbols include the axe head (斧 located between the dragon and pheasant),  rice (粉米 small circles on the axe), the sun (日 above the axe), the moon (月 the dragon’s horn), fire (火 on dragon’s body), the fu (黻 under the axe), stars (星辰 the three dots above the pheasant’s crest), the mountain (山 bottom of axe), the grail (宗彝 in claws of dragon and pheasant), and seaweed (藻 in pheasant’s beak).

At the top of the coin is written “Made in the 12th Year of the Republic of China” (中華民國十二年造) which would be the year 1923.

The other side of the coin has the denomination “One Yuan” (“One Dollar” 壹圓) written within a wreath of grain (嘉禾).  There are two versions of the coin depending on if the two Chinese characters are written “large” (大字) or “small” (小字).

This “dragon and phoenix silver dollar” was produced as a pattern or trial piece at the mint in Tianjin.  Only a small number were produced and the coins were not put into circulation because the design was considered by some to retain too much symbolism from China’s imperial past.

The lead mold used by the Tianjin Mint to produce these pattern coins can be seen at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing (北京鲁迅博物馆).