Item number: A2054

Year: AD 227-265

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.4 x 23.7 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 2.9 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 “wuzhu” (“five zhu”) written in small seal script, read from right to left. The strokes of the character “wu” (“five”) extend to and connect with the outer rim of the coin, a feature referred to in numismatics as “lianlun” (“connected rim”). The strokes of the character “zhu” are compressed by the outer rim, a phenomenon known as “yajin” (“pressed character”). Some scholars currently regard “yajin” as a distinctive characteristic of the Wuzhu coins issued during the Cao Wei period. The character “wu” exhibits curved brushstrokes, while the first stroke of the “zhu” character, particularly the radical “zhu” on the left, is executed with an angular bend. Both the obverse and reverse of the coin feature an outer rim but no inner border. A star is placed above and below the central square hole on the obverse, a configuration known as “upper and lower stars on the obverse”. It is suspected that an additional star is located near each corner on the right side of the square hole on the reverse. Wuzhu coins of the Cao Wei period bearing the “upper and lower stars on the obverse” feature have been excavated at multiple sites, including the tomb of Zhu Ran in Ma’anshan, Anhui; Echeng in Hubei; Hengyang in Hunan; and Anyang, Yanshi, and Wuwei in Gansu.

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.

物件編號: A2054

年代: 公元 227-265 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.4 x 23.7 x 1.0 mm

重量: 2.9 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。「五」字曲筆，「銖」字「朱」旁字首筆畫方折。錢幣正背面均具外輪、無內廓，於穿孔上下各置一星，稱「面上下星」。銅錢的背面右側方孔角上疑各有一星。「面上下星」之曹魏五銖於安徽馬鞍山朱然墓、湖北鄂城、湖南衡陽、河南安陽、偃師、甘肅武威均有出土紀錄。

《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。