Five dynasties among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms all cast coins. They are the 'Kaiping Yuanbao' cast by the Later Liang Dynasty, the 'Tiancheng Yuanbao' cast by the Later Tang Dynasty, the 'Tianfu Yuanbao' cast by the Later Jin Dynasty, and the 'Han Dynasty Yuanbao' cast by the Later Han Dynasty. "Yuan Tong Bao" and "Zhou Yuan Tong Bao" cast in the later Zhou Dynasty. Most of these coins are imitations of the Tang Dynasty's 'Kaiyuan Tongbao'. Among the ten countries, only the Former Shu, Later Shu, Southern Han, Southern Tang, Fujian, and Chu had minted coins. Among them, the Former Shu, Later Shu, and Southern Tang minted more types of coins.
Therefore, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were a wide variety of coins circulating on the market, but the coins circulating in China were mainly Kaiyuan Tongbao copper coins of the Tang Dynasty. The reason for this is related to two common characteristics of coins of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
Characteristics of the first Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms coins - poor quality.
Since during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, various countries were in constant war, and each country minted money to raise military expenditures. Of course, these warlords would not mint coins honestly. Therefore, when casting money, all countries will play some fancy tricks, or mix a large amount of iron and lead into copper coins to make up the number, or deliberately reduce the amount of copper to cast insufficient money, or even cast no characters in order to save labor costs. ...As more and more iron is poured into copper coins, some even directly cast iron coins. For example, the Southern Han Dynasty among the Ten Kingdoms cast the "Qianheng Chongbao" iron coins. There are many iron coins. It's as thin as paper.
As a result, the coins minted during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were generally not only poorly made, but either of insufficient quality or insufficient in weight. Of course, the people were unwilling to accept these shoddy and adulterated coins. A lot of this money can only be circulated in the cities controlled by the warlords of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It is not accepted even in the rural areas outside the city. Therefore, Kaiyuan Tongbao, which exists in large quantity and of high quality, became the common currency during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
The characteristics of the second Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms coins are small quantity and poor circulation.
Since all the countries in the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries were busy fighting wars, and each country existed for a short time, naturally they did not have much energy to engage in economic construction. Therefore, countries in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms generally have a limited amount of coins, and their own coins alone cannot meet the needs of social and economic turnover. Moreover, because each political power was divided into one party and each other prohibited the circulation of coins issued by their opponents in the areas under their control, the rulers of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms could only acquiesce in the private use of the coins of the previous dynasty as general currency.
What’s interesting is that things are rare and valuable. Although these coins of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are not well-made, they have become the favorites of coin collectors because of their small quantity. Especially the "Kaiping Yuanbao" of the Later Liang Dynasty. The "Tiancheng Yuanbao" of the Later Tang Dynasty and the "Dashu Tongbao" of the Later Shu Dynasty are the most precious and are sought after by the collectors.
In addition to the common characteristics of these two major countries, the coins of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms also have some own characteristics. Among them, Ma Chu's "Tiancefu Bao" and the Southern Tang Dynasty's "Dui Qian" The most distinctive.
In order to win over Ma Yin (Ma Chu regime), the warlord who ruled the Chu region, Zhu Wen, the Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty, imitated the story of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and appointed Ma Yin as the strategic plan of the Later Liang Dynasty in June of the fourth year of Kaiping (910 AD). General, Ma Yin was very proud of this official title, so he minted a batch of "Tiance Mansion Treasures" to celebrate this event.
Although 'Tiancefubao' still has the bad habit of adulteration of Ma Chu coins, and a large number of other metals are added to both silver coins and copper coins, this coin is the only one discovered so far in Chinese history. The earliest commemorative coins. The coin's casting technology is considered to be rare and sophisticated among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. In addition, it is very rare today. It is naturally a treasure of modern collectors and is included in the fifty treasures of ancient coins.
The so-called "pair money" refers to coins with the same inscription but different calligraphy styles, which can be matched in pairs. It is also called "pair money" or "pair money". This kind of money uses two calligraphy styles. Its character structure, strokes, fatness, squareness, thickness, weight and copper color are all consistent or similar, so it looks very beautiful. The "Kaiyuan Tongbao" seal script and official script pair of money cast by Li Wangjing, the heir of the Southern Tang Dynasty, are the earliest pairs of money that appeared.
This kind of coin coinage pioneered by the Southern Tang Dynasty had a great influence on the coinage of the Song Dynasty in later generations, but it rarely appeared after the Song Dynasty.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were an era of warlord warfare. Its currency was generally shoddy and had relatively little circulation in the world. It was the epitome of that era.