During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the development of the commodity economy, metal weighing currencies that needed to be divided and identified during circulation gradually became unsuitable and were replaced by metal coins.

From the Spring and Autumn Period to the metal coinage stage to the Warring States Period, four major monetary systems have been established: cloth coins, knife goods, ant-nosed coins, and ring coins:

1. The Central Plains area is Zhao, Cloth coins were mainly popular in places such as Korea, Wei and the Zhou royal family. The cloth coin was born out of the bronze shovel-shaped agricultural tool, which has the same pronunciation as "cloth". Cloth coins in the Spring and Autumn Period were mainly made of hollow cloth with a handle. The cloth coins of the Warring States Period were mainly flat-shouldered cloth, that is, compared with the "empty-headed cloth", they no longer have a hollow handle, but are shaped like a shovel-shaped copper piece. The shapes of cloth coins can be roughly divided into flat shoulders, shrugged shoulders, round shoulders and Categories such as square feet, pointed feet, round feet, etc. most generally evolved from flat-shouldered flat-bottomed cloth or flat-shouldered square-footed cloth to shrugged-shouldered pointed-footed cloth, round-shouldered round-footed cloth, and later expanded to Chu and Yan countries.

2. Qi State in the east and Yan State in the north mainly use knife coins. Knife coins are divided into two types: "Yanming Dao" and "Qi Daohua". The shape of the knife coin is similar to the knife tools used by northern nomads such as Shanrong and Beidi for fishing and hunting. Because there is the word "hua" on the surface of Qidao, it is called "daohua". The shape of the knife is divided into arc back, folded back and straight back. The head of the knife can be divided into flat head and pointed head. It is also an early bronze coin in my country.

3. The Qin State in the northwest only used ring coins, whose shape evolved from spinning wheels or jade walls. There are two types of ring coins: round holes and square holes. During the Warring States Period, the first coins with round holes were cast. Later, King Huiwen of Qin Dynasty and Emperor Qin Shihuang cast "half liang" coins with round square holes. Round ring money is the original state of square hole money.

4. The copper shells minted by Chu State in the south are called ant-nosed coins, which evolved from shell coins. The copper shell coin " " resembles a grimace, which is a combination of the two characters "贝化". Ant nose means small, which means small money. The copper shell coins of Chu State are commonly known as "Ghost Face Money" and "Ant Nose Money". In addition to ant nose money, Chu State also had gold weighing currency. It was the only country in the Warring States Period that used gold as its currency.

In short, the four major currency systems that emerged during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period evolved from labor production tools such as knives, shovels, and spinning wheels. This shows that at that time, war, fishing and hunting, pottery making, textiles and trade exchanges Characteristics and social features of the economic and living areas. The formation of the four major currency areas at the same time was also the product of the separatism of the princes. With the development of economy and commodity trading. The mutual circulation of currencies of various countries requires and accordingly promotes the trend of unification and standardization of currency systems.

[Edit this paragraph] 3. The history of Gang Qian in the past dynasties

Gang Qian refers to a type of currency legally issued by the state or local government. "Money" is derived from different versions of a kind of money. The outline and outline constitute the system of coins. You can use Gangqian as a clue to understand the history of currency evolution; you can use Muqian as a clue to get involved in ancient coin appreciation and archeology. The following mainly explains the relevant political, economic and historical changes in ancient times through the evolution of Gangqian in the past dynasties.

The gang money system can be divided into two major stages from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The first stage: The Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties were dominated by copper coins. It was the two-system stage of baht with Qin's "half two coins" and Han's "five baht coins" as the mainstay. In the second stage, from the Tang and Song Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, the appearance of year numbers on coins was eliminated. In addition to the Baowen system being different from the two previous baht systems, paper currency and silver standard systems also appeared, which will be discussed below.

(1) "Half Liang Qian" in Qin and Han

After Qin unified the six countries, political unification required economic unification as the basis. Qin Shihuang followed the trend of historical development and unified writing, weights and measures at the same time. , also unified the currency. It is stipulated that "gold" should be used as the upper currency, with yi (20 taels) as the unit, and round square hole copper coins as the lower currency, with half a tael as the unit. The "half liang" in the Qian text is consistent with the actual weight. This square-hole round coin has since become the main form of Chinese currency and has been used for more than 2,000 years. Why this shape? The main reason is that the ring shape is easy to carry, while the copper coins with ropes through the square holes are not easy to rotate and can prevent wear and tear. Some people also believe that this shape expresses the ancient cosmology of a round sky and a round earth. The Qin Dynasty square-hole round coin was the earliest currency legalized by the government in the world.

To identify the "half liang coins" of the Warring States and Qin Dynasties, you can start with calligraphy. The coin inscription "Half Liang" on the coins of the Warring States Period was in large seal script; while the coin inscription "Half Liang" on the coins of the Qin Dynasty was in small seal script. It is said that Qin coins were written by Prime Minister Li Si. Probably due to this influence, most of the money inscriptions after the Qin Dynasty were written by dignitaries or famous calligraphers. In the Song Dynasty, the emperor's royal book money also appeared. One of the differences between ancient Chinese coins and Western currencies is that the layout of ancient Chinese coins is dominated by money inscriptions, and circulating coins rarely have patterns, while Western coins are dominated by patterns of animals, plants, human figures, etc. The art of calligraphy on ancient coins is a separate topic.

It is said that Qin Shi Huang collected the weapons of the world and cast twelve golden figures in order to prevent the people from rebelling. This will inevitably affect the amount of copper coins minted. Because the price of copper was extremely high and the currency circulation was insufficient, Qin's banliang coins were very valuable. In the early Han Dynasty, the problem of "Qin money was heavy (high price) and difficult to use" occurred. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and continued to use half liang coins. However, when Liu Bang became emperor, the country was very poor and many small coins were recast. There were successively "elm pods, half liang, eight baht and half liang, four baht and half liang, etc. One tael was twenty-four baht, Due to the significant weight loss of Qin banliang, the name "banliang" does not match its actual name. Especially a small banliang, which looks like an elm tree fruit and is called "elm pod banliang", weighs less than 1 gram and is less than 1 centimeter in diameter. The Han Dynasty also allowed private ownership. The minting of coins with the prefectures and states caused currency disorder and inflation, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed the currency system.

(2) The "Five Baht Coin" and its evolution in the Han Dynasty

1. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty initiated it. "Five baht money".

After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, there was an urgent need to open up financial resources for "foreign affairs and utilitarianism." At the same time, the county freely minted money, causing chaos in the currency system and rising prices, threatening the central finance. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered in 118 BC to abolish the currency-making rights of the prefectures and states in the early Han Dynasty, and instead unified the minting of coins by the central government. Set up the "Three Officials of Shanglin", namely Zhongguan (in charge of casting money), Bian Tong (in charge of raw materials), and Junshu (in charge of making models), to form a central minting agency responsible for casting five baht coins, also known as Shanglin coins and Sanguan coins. . The high quality of the five baht coins has changed the phenomenon of currency chaos and is conducive to centralization and economic development. From Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it went through the Western Han Dynasty, Xinmang, Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties for more than 700 years. The five baht has been the legal tender of all dynasties for a long time. Because the five iron coins are light and heavy, China's square hole round coins with "five baht" as the main shape also influence Japan, Annan, North Korea and other countries. The fact that Thailand's current currency unit is still called "baht" is not unrelated to this.

2. The new Mang currency system was in chaos and the coinage of high-quality products was released.

In the late Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang established a new dynasty, relied on the ancients to reform the system, and issued currency indiscriminately. For example: "Daquan Fifty" is a kind of big money minted by Wang Mang to solve the economic crisis after he came to power. "Quan" is a borrowing of the word "qian". Wang Mang believed in the Wei theory. After he captured the world with the Liu surname, he tabooed the word "Liu". The word Liu was composed of the three characters Mao, Jin and Dao. Therefore, Qian's article did not use the word "jin" but instead used the word "quan". A "Daquan Fifty" weighs only two and a half times the weight of a Western Han Dynasty five-baht coin, but it is used as fifty five-baht coins. This means that for every big coin issued, forty-seven and a half five-baht coins will be taken away from the people. This will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the people, so people still use five-baht coins for transactions. For this reason, Wang Mang stipulated in the severe torture law: Anyone who dares to hide five baht money will be sent to the army as a prisoner to guard the border. The chaotic currency system shows that Wang Mang's rule is unpopular and will undoubtedly collapse. In addition, there is a kind of big money called "Dao Ping Wu Qian", that is, one big coin is worth five thousand five baht coins. Someone must have risked his life to forge such a large amount of money. In order to prevent theft of private money, in addition to enacting criminal laws and reinforcing the rule, a new coin shape was created, which was to combine ancient knife coins and round coins to create the world's first two-color metal coin. In order to prevent counterfeiting and private casting, official coins such as "Daquan Fifty" and "Daoping Five Thousand" were made "excellent in workmanship". This distorted style has also made future generations sigh for thousands of years.

The Eastern Han Dynasty restored the five-baht coin system that had existed since the Western Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo went to Beijing to destroy the five-baht coin and mint small coins instead, causing inflation and the monetary system fell into chaos again.

3. "Six Dynasties Five Baht" Bad Money

The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a period of China's division, with frequent wars, political turmoil, and social and economic destruction. History called this period "the great era of money and law" bad". In order to save copper, the five-baht coins were made smaller and smaller, known as "goose eyes" and "chicken eyes". They also had cut-edge rings, which were called cut-edge five-baht coins. One coin was changed to two coins, but the denomination was large, with hundreds of coins. Use it as a thousand. In the coin industry, the five baht coins of this period are collectively referred to as the "Six Dynasties Five Baht". The Six Dynasties are the six dynasties of Wu, Eastern Jin, Southern Song, Qi, Liang and Chen that had their capital in Nanjing. During this period, the five-baht coins were not only poorly minted but also poorly made during the Cultural Revolution and had incomplete strokes. Some people write "五铢" as "五金", and some write it as the opposite of "五铢". However, there were some exceptions to the five-baht coins during the period, such as the "Taihe Five-Baht" and "Yong'an Five-Baht" coins in the Northern Wei Dynasty. They were known in history as "heavy as their writing" and of high quality, which not only reminded people of a series of successful reforms by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

4. "Five baht coins" and rumors in the Sui Dynasty.

In the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty cast the "Kaihuang Five Baht", which ended the complicated money system of more than 300 years since the end of the Han Dynasty. This was also the last dynasty to use the five baht coin. During the tyranny of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, some people recognized that the "five" in the "five baht coin" of the Sui Dynasty was the word "X" with a vertical | added to the left as "| So some people said that it was a bad omen for the Sui Dynasty, indicating that its demise was not far away. Therefore, the "five baht coins" of the Sui Dynasty are easier to identify. In fact, this kind of writing was also used in the Northern Wei Dynasty. This was just a way for the people to curse the tyranny of the Sui Dynasty.

(3) From the Tang Dynasty, the round coin with square holes was transformed from the baht system to the era name and Baowen system with "wen" as the unit. It evolved from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. This was the second stage of currency development.

1. Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty pioneered the "Baowen" and "Reign Name Money"

The Tang Dynasty was a powerful dynasty with developed economy and culture. According to research, the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" coin was minted in 621 during the Wude period of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty. This ended the coin system named after the weight of two bahts since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and created the era name with "wen" as the unit after the Tang and Song Dynasties. The Baowen system copper coin. "Kaiyuan" means founding and pioneering, and "Tongbao" means treasures in circulation. It made a big breakthrough in the unit of weight. In ancient times, twenty-four baht was equal to one tael. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" pioneered the decimal system. Each piece weighed two baht and four to one penny, and accumulated ten pence weighed one liang, that is, ten qian and one liang "replaced baht with money". Kaiyuan Tongbao was minted in the Tang Dynasty for more than 200 years, which made the currency system stable for a long time. In the Tang Dynasty, "wen" was used for counting, and the Baowen money system with Qianliang as the weight unit was followed to the Qing Dynasty for thousands of years. It is also said that the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" made by Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty was written by Ouyang Jian, a master of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty, and was praised as a calligraphy coin.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty made large sums of money to deal with financial difficulties and called it "Qianyuan Chongbao". This was the first money to be called "heavy treasure". One penny of heavy treasure was equivalent to ten yuan of yuan, which caused currency depreciation, soaring prices, serious piracy and uneasiness. In the late Tang Dynasty, Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty abolished Buddhism and cast a large number of "Huichang Kaiyuan" coins from Buddhist bronzes, which alleviated the deflation phenomenon that had lasted for half a century. "Qianyuan" and "Huichang" are both chronological dates.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were a period of warlord rule and chaos. Due to the numerous political powers and various currencies, it was a period of currency chaos. In addition to copper, coin materials also include tin, iron, etc. Large-denomination coins are worth ten to a hundred, or even thousands to ten thousand. The chaos and complexity of the money system reflected the economic deterioration caused by the wars between separate regimes.

To sum up, the copper coins with square holes and round coins changed from the baht system to the era name, and the Baowen system was a turning point in the development of currency.

(4) In addition to the elimination of copper coins from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the paper money and silver system was also produced, which was another turning point in the development of currency.

1. "Era Name Money", "Yushu Coins" and "Paper Money" in the Two Song Dynasties

The copper coins of the Two Song Dynasties are characterized by the use of era names. According to research, the era name was first created by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the "era name money" began with the "Han Xing Qian" made by Li Shou in Chengdu, Sichuan during the Sixteen Kingdoms. The last coin with an era name was cast in the first year of Hongxian's reign by Yuan Shikai and was worth ten copper coins. This coin followed Yuan Shikai's collapse and existed for less than four months. "Reign Name Money" is minted with an era name and indicates the casting time, so that people can clearly understand the age of ancient coins when researching. This is an improvement in the development of coin forms. Among the year-name coins of the past dynasties, coins from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties are the easiest to collect.

In addition, among the calligraphy of all dynasties, the Song Dynasty is the most famous. According to legend, the Yuanfeng coins cast during the Yuanfeng period of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty had four calligraphy styles: seal script, official script, regular script, and cursive script. Among them, the official script coins written by Su Dongpo were calm and heroic, and were called "Dongpo Yuanfeng coins." During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, Sima Guang and Su Dongpo wrote the text "Yuanyu Tongbao" in both seal and running calligraphy. In the Song Dynasty, book coins and coins became popular. The emperor who was good at calligraphy couldn't bear the loneliness and often showed off his skills in Qian Wen. According to research, the first "Yu Shu Qian" written by the emperor was Song Taizong Zhao Jiong, and among the emperors of the past dynasties, the highest calligraphy achievement was Song Huizong Zhao Ji. He was incompetent in governing the country and was "the disgrace of Jingkang" and was taken prisoner by the Jin soldiers together with his son Qinzong. But he has a special liking for calligraphy, chess, calligraphy and painting, especially the "thin gold body" calligraphy, iron painting and silver hook, which is unique. The popularity of calligraphy coins in the Song Dynasty is not unrelated to the emperor's personal practice and praise, especially the popularity of imperial calligraphy coins with reign titles. This style of Qian's writing changed in the Ming Dynasty. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty, all Qian inscriptions were written by craftsmen. The fonts were dull and did not pay attention to the layout and structure, so the art of calligraphy was out of the question.

During the Song Dynasty, copper and iron coins were minted in parallel. Because copper utensils were more valuable than copper coins, there was a phenomenon of destroying coins and making utensils. Copper coins were rare and iron coins appeared. In addition, as the economic center of gravity moved southward, currency circulation expanded, and the banknotes produced in the two Song Dynasties were the earliest banknotes in the world. This paper currency is a kind of symbolic currency. It is the product of the development of social commodity economy to a certain stage. It is also related to the advancement of papermaking and printing technology. The main banknotes of the Northern Song Dynasty were Jiaozi, while those of the Southern Song Dynasty were Huizi and Guanzi. Jiaozi and Huizi were the common names for bills, securities, and exchangeable securities at that time. Whether the currency value is stable has become a barometer of the economic and financial situation.

Northern minority regimes such as the Liao, Song, and Xixia were influenced by the economy and culture of the Central Plains in their interactions with the Han people. In addition to using copper coins minted in the Tang and Song Dynasties, they also issued copper coins in national characters and Chinese characters.

2. The currency system of the Yuan Dynasty was mainly paper money

A small amount of copper coins were minted in the Yuan Dynasty, but the currency was mainly paper money. This was more prominent in ancient China. The banknotes of the Yuan Dynasty were called banknotes. The original banknotes are not allowed to be misappropriated, and the circulation of banknotes is strictly limited. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, political corruption, royal luxury, huge military expenditures, and fiscal expenditures were unable to make ends meet. The government had to rely on the indiscriminate issuance of banknotes to make up for it, causing prices to skyrocket. In addition, the Yellow River changed its course and flooded, causing natural and man-made disasters, so it was called "the source of disasters caused by the change of river banknotes". It can be seen that the excessive issuance of banknotes was closely related to the demise of the Yuan Dynasty.

3. The Ming Dynasty shifted from a paper currency policy to a system dominated by silver and supplemented by money.

Although the issuance of paper money is a progress in the history of currency, rulers of all ages have used it to exploit and plunder the people, causing the paper money policy to collapse. For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented a paper currency policy and issued "Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes" for use together with copper coins. However, the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes had no fixed issuance limit and no reserve, which soon led to inflation. Therefore, after the Jiajing period in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the treasure banknotes could no longer be circulated, and the people mainly used silver and copper coins. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, "banjiang" used silver to pay wages for labor and hired workers, and rich people accumulated their wealth mainly in silver. The amount of silver was minted into silver ingots of a certain standard starting from the Yuan Dynasty. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the silver ingots were called "Yuanbao". This was the beginning of China calling silver ingots "Yuanbao". At the same time, it was popular among the people to make copper coins. The material was changed from bronze to brass, and Tongbao coins with the year number as the name were cast.

4. Copper coins, banknotes and machine-made coins of the Qing Dynasty

The copper coins of the Qing Dynasty followed the system of the Ming Dynasty, and Xiaoping coins were mainly minted. Among the copper coins of the Qing Dynasty, Xianfeng coins were the most complex. The money inscriptions were divided into Tongbao, Chongbao and Yuanbao, with different face values ??and different money patterns. In the Qing Dynasty, folk business used silver for large amounts and money for small amounts. Money and banks went hand in hand.

In the first hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, silver ingots were used as the main currency, and taxes of more than one tael had to be collected. In the Qing Dynasty, states and counties levied land taxes in summer and autumn every year, and the finished grain must be full of silver. Because the central government does not mint unified silver coins for circulation, the silver used by the people may not be pure silver. The form, fineness, and flat size of silver ingots vary from place to place. Therefore, before paying taxes, silversmiths and silver shops melt and cast folk loose silver into pure silver and are deceived. Some silversmiths colluded with officials and took the opportunity to exploit the quality and weight of the silver, causing many complex social problems.

In the late Qing Dynasty, silver ingots began to transform into silver coins. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, foreign merchants used their silver coins to buy Chinese silk, tea, porcelain, etc. in foreign trade, making various foreign silver coins popular in China.

During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, starting from the signing of the unequal Treaty of Nanjing, the silver coins used for compensation were all "foreign money". At that time, China did not have silver coins. The inventory of foreign money was insufficient to offset the sharp increase in foreign indemnities, so the late Qing government was forced to start minting its own silver coins. The earliest machine-made foreign-style silver dollar in China is the "Guangxu Yuanbao" from the Guangxu period, commonly known as "Longyang". It is named after the dragon pattern on the back of the silver dollar. At the same time, machine-made copper coins, also known as "copper plates" appeared. The emergence of machine-made silver coins and copper coins has had a huge impact on China's traditional silver coins and copper coins with mainly square holes and round holes.

The types of banknotes issued in the Qing Dynasty were complex, including official banknotes and private banknotes. Official banknotes were issued by government financial institutions, while private banknotes were issued by private financial institutions. Banknotes can also be divided into copper coins (which can be There are four types: copper coins with square holes), copper dollar tickets (can be exchanged for copper dollars), silver coins (can be exchanged for silver), and silver dollar tickets (can be exchanged for silver dollars). The issuance of banknotes begins with treasury silver reserves and banknote certificates.

To sum up, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the production and circulation of banknotes, the status of silver currency increased day by day, the Ming and Qing Dynasties began to establish the silver-standard banknote system, and the machine-made currency system appeared in the late Qing Dynasty, which provided China with The late second stage of the development of monetary history.

The above is listed as the history of circulating coins. There are also many non-circulating currencies in the coin industry, such as pressure coins used to suppress evil spirits, tomb coins used to pray for blessings and ward off evil spirits, and to commemorate major historical events and outstanding historical figures. Commemorative coins and the like are not listed here one by one. These coins are commonly known as "spending money" and are insignificant in currency circulation, but they can provide precious historical materials for folklore research.

The history of coins

Ancient Chinese coins sprouted in the Xia Dynasty, originated from the Yin and Shang Dynasties, developed in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and were unified under the Qin Dynasty. After a long history of more than 4,000 years, they created More than seventy items are the best in the world. Not only that, the completeness of China's monetary system, the rich categories, the leisurely context, and the broad connotation are unmatched by any country.

The world's earliest paper currency The world's earliest low-priced currency "Jiaozi" appeared in the Song Dynasty, but both the physical object and the banknote version of "Jiaozi" have been lost. At present, the earliest "Jin Dynasty copper banknote version" discovered in China has been collected by Jinquan Numismatic Museum.

The earliest coins

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the rapid development of the commodity economy, ancient coins of various shapes began to appear, and their shapes mostly imitated the production tools or daily utensils of the time.

Member of the Chinese Numismatic Society, Xi'an Jinquan Numismatic Museum Rong Bansong: Like Chu State, it developed from shell coins to written shells. This kind of written shells are commonly known as grimace money and ant-nosed money. In the Central Plains and agricultural areas, cloth coins evolved from labor tools and farm tools, shovels. In coastal and northern areas, fishing and hunting areas evolved into knife coins based on their fishing and hunting tools - knives.

This piece of money is called Wuyang three-hole cloth. Why is it called three-hole cloth? Because it has three small holes on it. Did you see that there are three small holes on it? The name of this place is Wuyang, and the back is called Yiliang. There are two grades of three-hole cloth, one is twelve baht, and the other is one liang.

Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period

After Qin Shihuang annexed the six countries, in order to consolidate the feudal rule and develop the feudal economy, he unified the monetary policy and implemented half a coin with a circle outside and a square inside throughout the country. , this is a currency reform in Chinese history. This kind of copper coin avoids the disadvantages of the past problems such as complicated inscriptions, different sizes, different weights, and unclear currency values. The weight and shape of the coins are formulated to meet the needs. Banliangqian is a milestone in the history of the development of Chinese coins, marking that the shape of this kind of coin with a round outside and a square inside has been fixed since then, and was followed by all dynasties until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The advent of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins marked the second numismatic revolution in Chinese coins since Qin Shihuang unified the currency. It has continued to be popular for 1,300 years.

Qin Shihuang annexed the six kingdoms

Business activities flourished in the Han Dynasty, and the monetary system also underwent major reforms. In the fifth year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, in 118 BC, he began to mint five baht coins. The weight of the coins was appropriate, and its size and shape continued to be used until the Sui Dynasty.

Member of the Chinese Numismatic Society, Xi'an Jinquan Numismatic Museum Rong Bansong: Starting from the fourth year of Wude, Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, in AD 621, Kaiyuan Tongbao coins began to be minted, which meant that the two-baht system was abolished. So the historical significance of Kaiyuan Tongbao is very great. First, it abolished the two-baht currency system, and Baowen money began to appear. The emergence of Baowen money has the concept of a credit currency.

Han Dynasty - Sui Dynasty

In the Song Dynasty, copper and iron coins were used together, and the amount of coins minted was considerable. More than a dozen emperors had forty or fifty kinds of year-name coins. Chunxi Tongbao, which was minted in the seventh year of Chunxi in the Southern Song Dynasty, had the word "qi" on the back to commemorate the year. It was changed to lowercase in the ninth year of Chunxi. This is the so-called commemorative coin. This coin dating system was used until the end of the Song Dynasty. It is a major feature of Song money and is more than 300 years earlier than European coin dating.

During the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, paper money was mainly promoted, and copper coins were rarely minted.

Song -- Yuan -- Ming

After the middle of Ming Dynasty, silver became the main currency, and copper coins were only used for small payments, but they were still the focus of government issuance. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, absorbed the advanced technology of Western coinage, purchased coinage machinery from the United Kingdom, prepared a mintage factory in Guangzhou, took the lead in pioneering machine coinage, and implemented the third revolution in the history of Chinese coins. Advanced coin-making technology achieved success in the late Guangxu period.

Since then, machine-made coins have fully entered my country’s currency field.

The ancient coins of various periods in our country have gone through the test of ups and downs in four thousand years of history. They have a long history and a dazzling array. They have different shapes and many varieties. They have created more than 70 of the world's best coins. This is the world's best. Unmatched by any other country in the world.

Coins can be said to be the epitome of a country’s historical development. During its long development process, ancient Chinese coins have gradually formed a unique oriental coin culture system. Therefore, its value has been discovered by more and more people, and ancient coins have been collected by more and more people.

Coin is not only a means of commodity exchange, but also a special cultural carrier. It is a special commodity and an exquisite work of art. It is also a reflection of the political, economic, cultural and artistic conditions of various countries in various periods. Take Chinese coins as an example. They have developed from shell coins and cloth coins thousands of years ago to today's banknotes with exquisite printing and advanced counterfeiting technology, and then to the electronic currency that "can travel the world with one card"... The changes in currency have condensed thousands of years of history.

[Edit this paragraph] Appraisal of the value of ancient coins requires "four looks"

One look at the historical value. Rare ancient coins are not only physical objects of monetary history, but also witnesses of history. Therefore, it is necessary to understand its status in history before collecting it. For example, "Chengdu Jiaozi" and "Shiwen Zhongtong Yuanbao Jiaobao" are the earliest banknotes discovered in my country so far, and are regarded as priceless treasures by academic circles; Jilin's "Guangping Silver Coin" is considered to be my country's first machine-made currency; in 1985 The "Cheng'an treasure" unearthed in Acheng County, Heilongjiang Province in August is a rare item of my country's "one and two-half count silver coins". Coins coined during short-lived dynasties or peasant uprisings are mostly rare treasures due to their short circulation time and small circulation.

Second, look at the existing quantity. The knife coins of Qi, Yan, Zhao and other countries, and the cloth coins of Han, Wei, Qin and other countries are very old, rarer and more expensive than round coins. A small number of surviving coins include "Deyi Yuanbao" cast by the rebel Shi Siming in the Tang Dynasty after he occupied Luoyang. Later, it was found that the word "Deyi" was unlucky, so he changed it to "Shuntian" and cast "Shuntian Tongbao". These two kinds of coins are rarely handed down from generation to generation, and "Get Yi Yuan Bao" is particularly rare and a rare treasure.

Three looks at cultural value. Some categories that have been handed down from generation to generation are popular mainly because of their high cultural taste and artistic value. For example, coins such as "Huoquan" and "Buquan" during Wang Mang's New Dynasty in the Han Dynasty used vertical needle seal script; the nine-fold seal script "Quan Ti Tong Bao" cast during Renzong's reign in the Northern Song Dynasty was the earliest artistic calligraphy in China and is a collection of Treasure.

Fourth look at the appearance. Regardless of whether the coins are rare or not, try not to collect them if they have blurred surfaces, missing outlines, serious rust, or poor appearance. When collecting ancient coins, you should also pay attention to whether there are signs such as moon patterns and star patterns. The identification of ancient coins uses the inscriptions on the back to distinguish the casting age and address, and to evaluate their rarity. Generally speaking, coins with moon patterns, star patterns and other marks on the back are more valuable for collection than coins with a smooth back. Among the coins worth collecting, palace coins made of gold, silver, copper-nickel, etc. have small minting quantities and good quality, and are precious cultural relics.