Item number: A2189

Year: 136-118 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 22.5 x 22.8 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 1.9 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This coin is believed to be a “Four Zhu Ban Liang” type, likely first minted in the fifth year of the Jianyuan reign under Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty (136 BC), and circulated until the first year of the Yuanshou reign (118 BC).

Both the obverse and reverse of the coin lack an outer rim or inner border. The obverse inscription features the characters “Ban Liang” (meaning “Half Tael”) in seal script, read from right to left. The two characters are roughly aligned on either side of the square hole. The initial stroke of the character “Ban” is deformed, though the overall structure remains balanced. The character “Liang” appears slightly shorter, with its two central “ren” components rendered as simplified strokes forming two downward-facing arcs or sharp angles, a style sometimes referred to as “Lianshan Liang” (“Lianshan” meaning connected mountain peaks). The top left corner of the “冂” radical is rounded, indicating the artisan’s stroke order: first a vertical line, followed by a horizontal stroke and a vertical hook completed in a single motion. The negative engraving by the artisan was then moulded into the positive script visible on the coin. The strokes appear slightly raised, with irregular thickness, combining angular and rounded forms. The coin’s edge is untrimmed and lacks smoothing or regularisation. The coin surface is uneven in thickness. Diagonal striations are visible across the surface, which were produced during the mould-making process. These marks resulted from the artisan scraping down the area between the intended inner and outer borders to create space for the metal casting. However, the step of smoothing and finishing the mould was omitted, leading to the production of what may be termed “substandard coins”. Japanese scholars have noted that the density of these diagonal lines varies from coin to coin, resembling the shifting intensity of a sudden rain shower, and have termed them “Murasame Ban Liang” (“Murasame” meaning village rain). Chinese scholars have similarly referred to such coins as “Chunyu Ban Liang”, or “Spring Rain Ban Liang”. The workmanship is crude, suggesting the possibility of private casting.

The “Ban Liang” coin type continued the monetary system established during the Qin dynasty. During the Warring States period, the original Ban Liang coin weighed a true half liang, approximately 7.81 grams by modern measurement. However, by the end of the Qin dynasty, the weight had been reduced to eight zhu, or around 5.21 grams. At this point, the term “Ban Liang” no longer signified a specific face value or weight, but rather referred to the round coin with a square hole bearing that name. According to the “Treatise on Trade, Part II” in the Book of Han, “In the fifth year of Emperor Wen, as coins had become increasingly numerous and light, four-zhu coins were newly cast with the inscription ‘Ban Liang.’ The prohibition on private minting was lifted, and people were allowed to cast coins.” The phrase “coins had become increasingly numerous and light” refers to the early Han “Elm Seed Ban Liang” coins, also known as “pod coins”, which were light and thin, with oversized central holes. Though they also bore the inscription “Ban Liang”, their statutory weight was merely three zhu, which caused public dissatisfaction due to their lightness. Subsequently, Emperor Wen lifted the minting ban, allowing the populace to cast Ban Liang coins of standardised four-zhu weight under specific specifications. As a result, numerous variations of the Four Zhu Ban Liang coins emerged. Nevertheless, the actual weights of these coins, possibly due to effective institutional regulation and supervision, did not experience the phenomenon of bad coins driving out good ones. Excavated Four Zhu coins from the reign of Emperor Wen consistently exceed the statutory four zhu weight, approximately 2.6 grams today.

In the first year of the Jianyuan reign (140 BC), Emperor Wu initiated the minting of three-zhu coins. In the same year, the prohibition on private minting was reinstated: “All those who illicitly cast gold and bronze coins were to be executed; the number of officials and commoners violating the law was beyond count.” After several reversals in policy, a unified currency system was finally established under the Five Zhu coin.

Emperor Wu of Han, personal name Liu Che, was the seventh emperor of the Western Han dynasty, reigning from 141 to 87 BC. His fifty-four-year reign was marked by efforts to strengthen central authority and pursue territorial expansion. He implemented the “Order to Divide and Enfeoff” to weaken the power of regional princes, established the position of regional inspector to oversee local administration, and endorsed Confucianism as the state ideology. He carried out economic and monetary reforms, including the unification of coinage under the Five Zhu standard and the establishment of the equalisation and stabilisation system to regulate prices. Militarily, he launched multiple campaigns against the Xiongnu and opened routes to the Western Regions, facilitating the formation of the Silk Road. Culturally, he emphasised the divine legitimacy of imperial rule and conducted fengshan sacrifices to Heaven. Although the political situation in his later years was destabilised by the witchcraft persecutions, his reign laid the foundation for the political structure of the Han dynasty.

物件編號: A2189

年代: 公元前 136-118 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 22.5 x 22.8 x 0.5 mm

重量: 1.9 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

此錢應為「四銖半兩」，可能於西漢武帝建元五年(公元前136年)始鑄，鑄行至武帝元狩元年(公元前118年)。

錢幣正背面均無外輪內廓。正面錢文為「半兩」篆書，由右向左順讀。二字基本對齊方穿，「半」字字首變形，但整體結構均勻；「兩」字稍矮，字中二「人」旁簡筆為二開口向下之圓弧或尖角，有稱「連山兩」者。「冂」旁左上折角成圓筆，可見工匠之筆順乃先為豎劃，橫筆與豎鈎再一氣呵成，工匠刻就之陰文再經翻模，對映成所見陽文。筆劃隱起，粗細不均，方中帶圓。錢幣邊緣未經磨挫規整，錢面亦厚薄不均。錢面地張滿布斜紋，此斜紋為工匠製模過程中，剷平內、外廓間模材，為錢肉之澆鑄留出空間時，留下的刮擦痕跡，其後工匠漏去清整修模的步驟，逕行澆鑄，於是製造出一些「次品錢」。日本學者以其斜紋疏密各錢不同，似陣雨忽緩忽急，名為「村雨半兩」。中國學者也有作「春雨半兩」者。工藝粗糙，疑為私鑄。

「半兩」錢乃因循秦制，戰國時原實重半兩(約合今7.81公克)之「半兩」，至秦末時已輕至八銖(約合今5.21公克)，惟「半兩」已不再指代面額或重量，而是方孔圓圜形制之錢名。《漢書·食貨志下》有載，「孝文五年，為錢益多而輕，乃更鑄四銖錢，其文為『半兩』。除盜鑄錢令，使民放鑄。」「為錢益多而輕」指漢初鑄行之榆莢半兩錢，或稱莢錢，體輕而薄，穿孔甚大，錢文雖亦為半兩，但法重為三銖，「民患其輕」。後文帝開錢禁，使民得(以一定形制)倣鑄法重四銖之半兩。也因此，四銖半兩版別差異頗多，不可勝數。惟其實重，可能由於制度、督察得宜，反未出現劣幣驅逐良幣之現象，出土之文帝四銖錢反而均重略超法重的四銖(約合今2.6公克)。建元元年(公元前140年)，武帝改鑄三銖錢，同年，復錢禁：「盜鑄諸金錢罪皆死，而吏民之犯者不可勝數。」幾次政策反覆後，終以五銖一統幣制。

漢武帝，名劉徹，是西漢第七位皇帝，於公元前141年至前87年在位。他在位五十四年，致力於加強中央集權與對外擴張，推行推恩令削弱諸侯，設置刺史監察地方，並獨尊儒術，使儒家成為官方意識形態。他實行經濟與幣制改革，如統一鑄行五銖錢，並設立均輸平準制度穩定物價。在軍事上，他多次對抗匈奴，開闢西域，促成絲綢之路的形成。文化上強調皇權神授，實行封禪祭天。雖然晚年政局因巫蠱之禍而動盪，但其統治奠定了漢代政治格局。