Item number: A1658

Year: AD 1138-1279

Material: Gold

Size: 103.3 x 49.0 x 2.5 mm

Weight: 38.0 g

Provenance: Chang Ming-chuan Collection 2010

This is a one-tael gold leaf ingot minted during the Southern Song Dynasty. Its appearance resembles a folded book page, consisting of a total of five folds. At the centre, the mark “Wu Zhai” (武宅) serves as the workshop’s identification stamp, while the corner bears the inscription “Shi Fen Gold” (十分金), indicating its gold purity. The Southern Song Dynasty was the most prosperous period for commerce in Chinese history. Although daily transactions still relied on copper coins as the medium of exchange, precious metals such as gold and silver played significant roles in both governmental and private sectors.

According to historical records, gold products during the Southern Song Dynasty served primarily non-commercial purposes such as rewards, military expenses, national expenses, taxes, tributes, offerings, and gifts. During the Southern Song period, one tael of gold was equivalent to thirty strings of copper coins, which had an astonishing purchasing power of twenty-two thousand coins. However, the legal currency of the Southern Song Dynasty was copper coins and paper money, so gold needed to be exchanged through special intermediary institutions known as “gold-silver-salt-paper exchange shops.”

Since the Southern Song capital Lin’an was established in AD 1138, the rapid population growth in the city led to increased demand for various consumer goods. Lin’an, especially, was inhabited by high-consumption residents such as members of the royal family and high-ranking officials. Therefore, on the bustling commercial streets of Lin’an, there were hundreds of “exchange shops” where people could exchange gold and silver. In addition to dealing with the production and exchange of gold and silver products, these exchange shops also served as places for exchanging legal paper money. These exchange shops played an indispensable role in promoting the economic prosperity of the Southern Song Dynasty.

物件編號: A1658

年代: 公元 1138-1279 年

材料: 金

尺寸: 103.3 x 49.0 x 2.5 mm

重量: 38.0 g

來源: 張明泉舊藏 2010

這是一枚南宋時期鑄造的一兩重金葉子，外觀類似書頁，總計有五折頁。正中央印有「武宅」，即工坊的識別標記，角落則有標示含金量字樣的「十分金」。南宋是中國歷史上商業最為蓬勃發展的時代，雖然日常交易仍然以銅錢作為媒介，彼時金銀等貴金屬也在政府和民間扮演重要的角色。

根據文獻記載，黃金製品在南宋時期的主要功能是：賞賜、軍費、國費、納稅、上供、進獻和餽贈等非商業性用途。南宋時期一兩黃金等值於三十貫銅錢，即二十二萬枚的驚人購買力。但南宋的法定貨幣是銅幣和紙幣，故需要通過特殊中介機構「金銀鹽鈔交引鋪」兌換。自公元1138年，南宋定都臨安以來，城內人口急速增長帶動各種消費品的需求。尤其臨安更是皇族和達官顯貴等具備高消費力居民的住居，故臨安最繁華的商業街道上，供人兌換金銀的「交引鋪」就高達上百家之譜。交引鋪業務涉及金銀製品的打造和交換外，更是兌換法定紙幣「鈔引」的場所。交引鋪稱得上促進南宋經濟繁榮不可或缺的重要角色。