Item number: A3648

Year: AD 1310-1311

Material: Bronze

Size: 22.8 x 22.8 mm

Weight: 4.6 g

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. Werner Klaus Burger Collection

This coin is inscribed with the legend “Zhida Tongbao” and was cast during the Zhida reign period (AD 1308–1311) by Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan dynasty, Haishan.

The obverse bears the four-character inscription “Zhida Tongbao” in regular script, read vertically from top to bottom and horizontally from right to left. The calligraphy imitates the style of the Jin dynasty’s “Dading Tongbao” coinage, and is therefore referred to as the “Dading-style imitation edition.” The characters are relatively small in size. The reverse is plain and uninscribed.

Faced with a fiscal crisis resulting from the over-issuance of paper currency, uncontrolled military expenditures, and rampant bureaucratic corruption, Emperor Wuzong implemented a series of financial and administrative reforms. These included consolidating fiscal authority between the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng) and the Privy Council (Shumi Yuan) to enhance centralised control over financial matters; conducting audits to eliminate redundant officials and abolish supernumerary positions to reduce salary expenditures; restricting the over-issuance of paper currency such as the Zhiyuan Baochao, attempting to withdraw old notes and issue new coinage, including the Zhida Tongbao and Dayuan Tongbao, to stabilise currency values. Additionally, reforms were enacted in the state monopolies of salt and iron, and in land taxation, targeting salt smuggling and the underreporting of landholdings by powerful elites.

Although the reforms achieved only limited success—some measures, such as restricting paper currency, were undermined by the simultaneous issuance of silver notes for revenue extraction—Wuzong’s appointment of capable and upright officials, along with his removal of the factional remnants of the former minister Sangge, laid an initial foundation for the fiscal and political revitalisation later realised during the Yuan Renzong’s Yanyou era.

Werner Klaus Burger (AD 1936–2021), a German numismatist, was renowned for his pioneering research on Qing dynasty coinage. Born in Munich, he completed his studies in Sinology at the University of Munich in AD 1962. In 1963, he went to teach German at Fudan University in Shanghai. However, during the Cultural Revolution in 1965, after the closure of academic institutions, he was reassigned to tend sheep in Suzhou. Subsequently, he relocated to Hong Kong, where he devoted himself entirely to numismatic research. In AD 1974, he completed the first doctoral dissertation on Chinese numismatics, which was later expanded into his magnum opus, Ch’ing Cash, a chronologically organised catalogue of Qing dynasty coinage. His collection encompassed a comprehensive range of Qing coins and related archival materials. Burger passed away in Hong Kong in 2021 at the age of 85. His contributions to the field of numismatics remain profoundly influential.

物件編號: A3648

年代: 公元 1310-1311 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 22.8 x 22.8 mm

重量: 4.6 g

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

此錢為「至大通寶」。由元武宗海山於至大年間(公元1308-1311年)鑄造。

錢面錢文「至大通寶」楷書。四字由上至下、由右至左對讀。錢文風格模仿金朝鑄「大定通寶」，故稱「仿大定版」。字體較小。錢背則光素無文。

面對元朝因濫發紙幣、軍費失控與官吏貪污所造成的財政危機，元武宗推動了一系列整頓措施。其主要改革包括整合中書省與樞密院的財政權力，強化中央對財政的統一管理；同時清查冗官與濫賞，裁撤無實職之官員以減少俸祿支出；限制至元寶鈔等紙幣的濫發，試圖回收舊鈔，發行新幣如至大通寶、大元通寶以穩定幣值；並整頓鹽鐵專賣制度與田賦徵收，嚴查盜鹽與豪強漏報土地等情況。雖然改革成效有限，部分措施流於表面，如限制寶鈔，卻另行銀鈔以聚斂。且武宗本人好酒色、改革決心不強，但其任命的廉能官員及清除權臣桑哥舊黨的行動，為後來元仁宗延祐年間的財政與政治中興奠定了初步基礎。

布威納(Werner Klaus Burger，生卒年公元1936-2021年），德國錢幣學家，以研究清代中國錢幣聞名。他生於德國慕尼黑，公元1962年於慕尼黑大學完成漢學學業，公元1963年赴上海復旦大學教授德語。公元1965年，因文化大革命學校關閉，被派往蘇州牧羊。因此移居香港，專注錢幣學研究，最終於公元1974年完成中國錢幣學首篇博士論文，後增補為其代表作《清錢編年譜》(Ch’ing Cash)。其收藏涵蓋清代錢幣及相關文獻。布威納於2021年在香港逝世，享年85歲，其對錢幣學的貢獻影響深遠。