Item number: A2049

Year: AD 227-265

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.5 x 23.6 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 2.2 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This is a bronze coin known as the “Cao Wei Wu Zhu,” minted from the first year of Taihe to the second year of Xianxi (AD 227–265) under the successive emperors of the Cao Wei regime following Emperor Ming.

The obverse of the bronze coin bears the inscription “五銖” (Five Zhu) in Small Seal Script, read sequentially from right to left. The strokes of the character “五” (five) extend to and connect with the coin’s outer rim, a feature numismatically termed “lianlun” (rim-joining). The strokes of the character “銖” (zhu) are compressed by the rim, a phenomenon referred to as “yajin” (rim-pressed). Some contemporary scholars regard “yajin” as a distinctive characteristic of Wu Zhu coins minted during the Cao Wei period. The “zhu” (銖) character features a rounded turning stroke at the top component “zhu” (朱). The square hole on the obverse is bordered by an extremely narrow inner rim, while the reverse of the coin displays both an outer and inner rim but remains entirely plain, devoid of any inscription.

The Book of Jin (Jin Shu晉書), in its Treatise on Food and Money (Shihuo Zhi食貨志), states: “When Cao Cao became Chancellor, he abolished it and reinstated the Wu Zhu coin.” This refers to Cao Cao’s decree, after assuming the position of Chancellor in AD 208, to ban the small, inscription-less coins issued by Dong Zhuo and to reinstate the standard Wu Zhu coin format used since the Han dynasty as the sole legal currency. However, no official Wu Zhu coins were minted at the time. It was not until the first year of Emperor Ming’s Taihe reign (AD 227) that official minting resumed, as indicated by the phrase “new Wu Zhu coins were minted” (geng zhu wu zhu qian 更鑄五銖錢). Based on excavated tombs, it appears that during the Cao Wei period, private coin minting was permitted alongside state-issued currency. After the Western Jin replaced the Wei in AD 266, no new official coins were minted throughout the Jin dynasty until the seventh year of Yuanjia (AD 430) under the Liu Song dynasty. Instead, Han and Wei-era copper coins continued to circulate. The allowance of private minting under the Cao Wei and Jin dynasties may have been a pragmatic response to the entrenched power of aristocratic clans, whose control over private minting was difficult to reclaim due to the significant profits involved. Alternatively, it may reflect the collapse of the monetary economy since the later Eastern Han period, which resulted in greater reliance on a barter-based economy.

At the time of acquisition, it was recorded as a Six Dynasties–period Wu Zhu coin.

物件編號: A2049

年代: 公元 227-265 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.5 x 23.6 x 0.7 mm

重量: 2.2 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

這是一枚太和元年至咸熙二年(公元227至265年)，曹魏政權自明帝以降諸帝鑄造之「曹魏五銖」銅錢。

銅錢的正面錢文為由右向左順讀的小篆「五銖」二字，「五」字筆畫貼連錢幣外廓，於錢幣學中稱為「連輪」。「銖」字筆畫遭外廓侵壓，可稱「壓金」。當前有些學者認為，「壓金」是曹魏時期五銖錢的特徵。「銖」字「朱」頭筆畫圓折。正面方孔內廓幾無厚度，銅錢的背面則外輪內廓俱全，光素無文。

《晉書．食貨志》有載，「至魏武為相，於是罷之，還用五銖」。意為曹操登相後(公元208年)取締董卓所發行的無字小錢，規定漢以來五銖形制的銅錢才是合法貨幣，但應無官鑄五銖錢。直到漢明帝太和元年(公元227年)，「更鑄五銖錢」，即恢復官鑄。依據出土墓葬，曹魏時期可能同時開放民間私鑄，與官鑄銅錢並行不悖。西晉代魏(公元266年)後，直至劉宋元嘉七年(公元430年)，兩晉都未曾官鑄新錢，而是沿用漢魏銅錢。曹魏、兩晉不禁私鑄，可能是面對已坐大的世族豪強，難以回收可坐收厚利的鑄幣權，也可能是東漢歷朝以降，貨幣經濟的崩潰，造成實物經濟更受重視。

入藏時記為六朝五銖。