List of coin hoards in China
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The list of coin hoards in China (traditional Chinese: 中國錢幣窖藏清單; simplified Chinese: 中国钱币窖藏列表; pinyin: zhōng guó qián bì jiào cáng liè biǎo) lists significant archaeological hoards of coins, other types of coinages (e.g. sycees) or objects related to coins discovered in China (the People's Republic of China in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Free area of the Republic of China, e.g. Taiwan). The history of Chinese currency dates back as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), and the earliest coinages took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. During the Warring States period new forms of currency such as the spade money, knife money, and were introduced (further reading: Zhou dynasty coinage and Ancient Chinese coinage). After unification of China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC the Ban Liang (半兩) cash coin became the standard coinage, under the Han dynasty the Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins became the main currency of China until they were replaced with the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) during the Tang dynasty, after which a large number of inscriptions were used on Chinese coinages. During the late nineteenth century China started producing its own machine-struck coinages.
In Chinese culture coins are often used as burial objects and it's not uncommon for coins to be discovered in tombs and graves.
Occasionally foreign coins are also found in China, which were brought there through international trade routes such as the silk road, overseas trade with foreign countries, and colonialism. And because of trade with other countries large quantities of Chinese coins have also been found in neighbouring countries like Japan, Korea,[1] and Vietnam,[2][3] as well as far away places like Elcho Island,[4] Kenya,[5][6] and Yukon.[7]
Cleaning of coins by Chinese archaeologists[]
As Chinese archaeologists frequently unearth ancient Chinese cash coins and other forms of historical currency at tomb sites, these unearthed bronze coinages are often severely corroded because they have been buried for hundreds or thousands of years, this sometimes means that the inscriptions on them can't be read.[8] While archaeologists working at a site tend to do everything very slowly and do it as methodically as possible to avoid doing any damage to the buried cultural relics, this approach isn't taken with cash coins because they are often vital to date the tombs or ruins.[8] With ancient Chinese cash coins archaeologists tend to be less concerned about their preservation and clean them to identify them.[8]
To clean bronze cash coins Chinese archaeologists will simply put them in a mild acid like vinegar to soak for a period of 2 or 3 days, after this process is done the surface dirt and some of the corrosion will be removed.[8] The cash coins are then removed by the person doing the cleaning, and they will them scrap out any leftover corrosion in the Chinese characters by using a (common) toothpick.[8] After this process us done, a rubbing is usually made of the unearthed coins.[8]
On the contrary, it is usually said among coin collectors to not clean their coins because the cleaning process will often lessen the coin's market value or in some cases even ruin it.[8]
Because of the high frequency of the discovery of coin hoards in China uncleaned coin hoards from other countries are frequently send to China for cleaning and assessment.[9] For example, someone discovered a hoard of group of around 400 different 8 reales coins on the border between Mexico and the central American country of Guatemala.[9] These silver coins were mostly produced by the Guatemala mint with others produced by the Mexico and Lima mints, all of which contained portraits of kings Charles IV and Ferdinand VII.[9] As these coins were all to unclean to be deemed "valuable" by coin collectors they were sent to a coin dealer in the Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.[9] Such situations are common as Chinese coin dealers have become experts in removing corrosion from coins to get them graded by numismatic experts and then be sold into the retail market.[9]
1950s[]
1950s (Mainland China)[]
| List of 1950s coin hoards in Mainland China | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of discovery | Place of discovery | Image | Content | Long description of the find and notes | Date (if known) |
Current location (if known) |
| 1950s | Xi'an, Shaanxi | Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins | During the 1950s, a number of Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins were unearthed at a site somewhere near the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi.[10][11] Among the excavated cash coins was one notable silver specimen, this cash coin notably has a diameter of 66 millimeters, a thickness of 7 millimeters, and a weight of 96.15 grams, compared to most State of Qin Ban Liang cash coins made from bronze which typically have a diameter between 32 and 34 millimeters and weigh only 8 grams.[10] | Warring States period | ||
| 1955–1959 | Hengyang and Changsha, Hunan | Iron Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins | Between the years 1955 and 1959 a number of iron Ban Liang cash coins were unearthed in Western Han dynasty era tombs in the Hunanese cities of Hengyang and Changsha.[12][13] These hoards point out to the possibility that China has used iron cash coins over a millennium before the Northern Song dynasty, as was traditionally thought before these discoveries.[12][13] | Western Han dynasty period | ||
1960s[]
1960s (Mainland China)[]
| List of 1950s coin hoards in Mainland China | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of discovery | Place of discovery | Image | Content | Long description of the find and notes | Date (if known) |
Current location (if known) |
| 1960s | Jinshi City, Hunan | 6 gold coins produced by the Delhi Sultanate | During the 1960s six gold coins were discovered buried in a small white glazed pot at a farm in Jinshi City, Hunan.[14][15] These gold coins are now classified as first-level national cultural relics (国家一级文物). During the 1980s these gold coins were moved to the museum of Jinshi City.[14][15] Peng Jia (彭佳), Director of the noted that these gold coins were produced by the Delhi Sultanate during the time that China was under Mongol domination.[14][15] The obverse of the coins contain the name of the reigning sultan written in a "rare form" of Arabic script.[14][15][16] | Mid-Yuan dynasty period | The Museum of Jinshi City | |
1970s[]
1970s (Mainland China)[]
| List of unspecified 1970s coin hoards in Mainland China | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of discovery | Place of discovery | Image | Content | Long description of the find and notes | Date (if known) |
Current location (if known) |
| The early 1970s | Chengtian Temple, Quanzhou, Fujian | Yonglong Tongbao (永隆通寶) clay moulds | During the early 1970s a number of Yonglong Tongbao (永隆通寶) clay moulds (traditional Chinese: 錢陶範; simplified Chinese: 钱陶范; pinyin: Qián táo fàn) were uncovered at the Chengtian Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian.[17][18] The clay moulds date to the Kingdom of Min during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and all display the inscription Yonglong Tongbao.[17] The clay moulds were discovered by a group of Buddhist monks digging in the courtyard in, to bury jars of a local Quanzhou-based traditional Chinese medicine known as "" (Chinese: 金汁; pinyin: jīn zhī), the elixir is made by mixing together the excrements of young (preadolescent) boys, spring water and "red soil" (traditional Chinese: 紅土; simplified Chinese: 红土; pinyin: hóng tǔ).[17] After being prepared the solution is then stored inside a clay jar which is buried underground at a depth of approximately 3 meters.[17] The clay jars are then left underground for a period of between 30 and 40 years, after which they are dug back up.[17] "golden juice" as a form of "medicine" is taken orally and within traditional Chinese medicine it is considered to be particularly useful in the treatment of high fevers.[17] While the initial clay moulds were uncovered during the early 1970s, it wasn't until the year 2002 when archeologists would formally excavate the site looking for more coin moulds.[17] Yonglong Tongbao cash coins themselves today are very rare.[17] There are only two specimens of them known to exist in Chinese museums and perhaps only about 100 specimens of Yonglong Tongbao cash coins are known to be in the hands of private Chinese coin collectors.[17] Cash coins with this inscriptions were mostly made from iron, while an even smaller number of lead variants of them are known to exist.[17] The reason as to why Yonglong Tongbao cash coins are so scarce has to do with the short period of time they were cast, which was only 1 year and 7 months.[17] Furthermore they are even rarer because of the facts that iron suffers from oxidation and deteriorates, the limited area in which the Yonglong Tongbao cash coins had circulated, and their intricate method of production.[17] | Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period | ||
1972[]
1972 (Mainland China)[]
| List of 1972 coin hoards in Mainland China | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of discovery | Place of discovery | Image | Content | Long description of the find and notes | Date (if known) |
Current location (if known) |
| 1972 | , Lindong, Baarin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia |  |
A Da'an Baoqian (大安寶錢,
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