Item number: A881

Year: AD 1119-1125

Material: Iron

Size: 23.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 2.95 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D.L.F. Sealy Collection

This is the “Xuanhe Tongbao” coin minted during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, using his sixth era name. Emperor Huizong ruled for 25 years and employed a total of six era names during his reign.

The coin follows the typical square-holed design. The obverse side bears the inscription “Xuanhe Tongbao,” arranged in a seal script and read in the order of top, bottom, right, and left. The reverse side is blank, without any inscriptions or designs.

The “Xuanhe Tongbao” coins are categorised into three denominations based on weight and size: One-Cash, Two-Cash, and Three-Cash. In terms of calligraphy, they are divided into three styles: clerical script, seal script, and regular script. Additionally, there is a rare type featuring a “Shan” character on the reverse, with the script written in the unique slender-gold style.

Emperor Huizong of Song, whose personal name was Zhao Ji. He had a profound interest in tea culture and calligraphy, and authored a book titled “Treatise on Tea in the Daguan Era,” which describes the tea art of the Song Dynasty, including tea appreciation and tea competitions. This book is the only tea monograph written by a reigning emperor in history.

Despite Emperor Huizong’s exceptional artistic accomplishments, his reign was marked by flawed diplomatic policies. These missteps ultimately facilitated the rise of the emerging Jin Dynasty. Following the Jin’s conquest of the Liao Dynasty, they breached the northern Song capital in AD 1127, capturing Emperor Huizong, then acting as a retired emperor, along with his recently enthroned successor, Emperor Qinzong, and other members of the imperial family. This event, known as the Jingkang Incident, compelled the Song court to flee southward, marking a dark chapter in Chinese history.

During the Song Dynasty, in addition to bronze coins, one notable feature was the widespread circulation of iron coins, a phenomenon rarely seen in other dynasties. This practise arose primarily for two reasons: first, the domestic shortage of copper resources; and second, the need to prevent copper coins from flowing into the hands of northern rival states, such as the Western Xia, Liao, and Jin. As a result, the Song court initially began minting iron coins, and later introduced early forms of paper money, such as Jiaozi and Huizi, as alternative currency.

物件編號: A881

年代: 公元 1119-1125 年

材質: 鐵

尺寸: 23.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 mm

重量: 2.95 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是北宋第八任皇帝徽宗，以其使用的第六個年號鑄造的「宣和通寶」。宋徽宗在位25年，先後使用六個年號。

錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢。錢幣正面按上、下、右、左的順序，依序以篆書書法鐫刻「宣和通寶」四字。錢幣背面為光背，沒有任何文字或圖案。

宣和通寶按重量和尺寸，分為小平錢、折二錢和折三錢，三種面額。若按書法字體劃分，則有隸書、篆書和楷書三種類型。並且尚有一種背面帶「陝」字，字體為瘦金體的罕見類型。

宋徽宗，本名趙佶，對茶學、書法頗有研究，他曾寫下一本《大觀茶論》，描述宋代人觀茶、品茶，甚至「鬥茶」等茶藝術。《大觀茶論》除了描述宋代飲茶的現象外，更是世上唯一一位由帝王撰寫的茶葉專著。

即便徽宗擁有高超的藝術造詣，身為皇帝卻因錯誤的外交政策，導致新興崛起的金國在消滅遼國後，於公元1127年攻破北宋首都，擄去時任太上皇的徽宗和繼位不久的欽宗等皇室貴冑，使得宋室被迫南渡史稱「靖康之禍」。

兩宋時期的錢幣以青銅為材料外，其特色尚有大規模的鐵幣流通，為其他朝代少見的現象。之所以如此，一來是國內的銅礦資源缺乏；二來是防止銅錢流入競爭對手，諸如西夏、遼和金等北方政權，使得兩宋朝廷先是鑄造鐵錢，後來更出現紙幣雛形的「交子、會子」作為貨幣。