Item number: A2102

Year: AD 524-549

Material: Iron

Size: 22.4 x 23.7 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 3.6 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This coin is believed to be the iron Five-Zhu first cast in the fourth year of the Putong reign under Emperor Wu of the Southern Liang dynasty (AD 524). According to the contemporary account by Gu Xuan, the reverse bears a four-pronged pattern. Its circulation likely continued until the death of Emperor Wu in AD 549.

The coin features both an outer rim and inner border on the obverse and reverse. The inscription reads “Wu Zhu” in seal script, arranged from left to right. Originally intended to denote “Five Zhu”, whether the component radical for “Jin” remains is no longer discernible. The character “Wu” exhibits curved strokes and is elongated in form, while the character “Zhu” appears shorter and more compact. The reverse bears no inscription but displays a four-pronged pattern extending diagonally from the square hole towards the outer rim. To the left of the hole, there is a crescent-shaped mark facing inward. The casting is crude, with distorted contours, overflow metal, and untrimmed edges.

At the beginning of the Liang dynasty, the government issued two types of coins—the Tianjian Five-Zhu and the Gongshi Nu coins (Official small coins)—to alleviate a shortage in circulating currency. However, due to rampant official and private casting, the new coins failed to gain the trust of merchants and the public. As a result, older coins from the Han dynasty and earlier continued to dominate the market. The monetary system fell into disorder, and prohibitions against unauthorised minting proved ineffective. Thus, in the fourth year of the Putong reign (AD 524), Emperor Wu issued an edict ordering the complete withdrawal of copper coins and their replacement with iron coinage. This marked the beginning of the extensive circulation of iron coins in subsequent dynasties. Iron, being cheap and abundant, and easier to smelt and cast, encouraged widespread illicit minting by both officials and civilians. Iron coins quickly flooded the market: “…everywhere iron coins piled up like hills, prices soared, and traders transported coins by cart rather than counting them, referring only to strings of cash.” Later, as iron coins rusted easily and became less fit for circulation, a system of depreciated units emerged, such as the “short string” (duanmo, or duan bai), wherein fewer than one hundred coins came to represent the nominal unit of one hundred. Hyperinflation was soon followed by deflation within the span of merely a decade, resulting in economic decline. Coupled with deteriorating governance, these factors ultimately contributed to the disorder and collapse at the end of the Liang dynasty.

Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan (AD 464–549), was the founding emperor of the Southern Liang dynasty. He ascended the throne in AD 502 and reigned for forty-eight years, the longest reign among the emperors of the Southern Dynasties. Formerly a general of the Southern Qi, he rose in rebellion during the late Qi period, overthrew the Marquess of Donghun, and established the Liang dynasty, designating Jiankang (present-day Nanjing) as the capital. Early in his reign, he promoted frugality, emphasised education and culture, recruited members of the aristocracy, and actively embraced and propagated Buddhism. Advocating a balance between Confucianism and Buddhism, he oversaw a cultural flourishing during his rule. However, in his later years, Emperor Wu tolerated widespread official corruption, and the political situation gradually deteriorated. His extravagant patronage of Buddhism led to severe fiscal strain; he entered the Tongtai Temple to become a monk on four occasions, each time requiring the court to “redeem” him with enormous sums of money amounting to hundreds of millions of cash. During the Taiqing period, the rebellion of Hou Jing broke out, resulting in the siege of Jiankang. Emperor Wu was trapped within the Taicheng Palace, where he ultimately died from hunger and illness at the age of eighty-six. Although his reign brought cultural prosperity, his administrative failures contributed significantly to the decline of national power in the Southern Dynasties.

物件編號: A2102

年代: 公元 524-549 年

材質: 鐵

尺寸: 22.4 x 23.7 x 1.5 mm

重量: 3.6 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

此錢應為於南朝梁武帝普通四年(公元524年)始鑄之鐵五銖，同代顧烜載，「背有四出」，鑄行最晚大約至梁武帝崩(公元549年)。

錢幣正背面外輪內廓俱全。錢文為「五朱」篆書，由左至右順讀，原為「五銖」，是否有金旁已無法辨識。「五」字曲筆，字形較長；「朱」字稍矮。錢背無文，有四出紋，即穿廓四角沿對角線延伸至外輪。穿孔左側則另有一月紋向內。鑄工粗糙，輪廓扭曲，流銅、毛邊未除。

梁初推行天監五銖、公式女錢二品並行，以補通貨之不足。由於官、私濫鑄，不受商民信任，市場仍行用漢以來古錢。貨幣紊亂，禁不能止。是以於普通四年(公元524年)，梁武帝詔「盡罷銅錢，更鑄鐵錢」，開歷朝大量行用鐵錢之先。鐵賤易得，且冶鑄容易，官民放縱私鑄，於是鐵錢很快浮濫於市場，「……(市場)所在鐵錢，遂如丘山，物價騰貴。交易者以車載錢，不復計數，而唯論貫。」其後由於鐵錢易鏽，通貨愈少，反而出現以不足百枚而稱「陌」(通百)的「短陌」計價方式。通貨膨脹與通貨緊縮在十數年間接踵而至，造成經濟蕭條，加以吏治愈壞，終究導致梁末的混亂與崩潰。

梁武帝蕭衍(AD 464-549)，是南朝梁的開國皇帝，於公元502年即位，在位達四十八年，是南朝歷代皇帝中在位最久者。其原為南齊將領，於齊末起兵，推翻東昏侯，建立梁朝，定都建康(今南京)。梁武帝在位之初推行節儉政策，重視文教，延攬士族，並皈依佛教，積極推廣。他提倡儒釋並重，使梁朝文化發展達到高峰。然而，梁武帝晚年縱弛官員貪腐，政治日益敗壞，加以因佞佛而鋪張靡費，四次捨身至同泰寺，朝廷「奉贖」之錢，數以億計。太清年間，侯景之亂爆發，建康被圍，梁武帝困於台城，最終在飢餓與病困中去世，享壽八十六。他的在位雖帶來文化繁榮，卻也因政治廢弛導致南朝國勢的衰退。