Item number: A3513

Reference Number: DCD#208

Year: AD 227-300

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.7 x 24.1 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 2.35 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This specimen is a Wu Zhu coin, believed to have been cast in the Kingdom of Kucha (modern Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang) as an imitation of monetary types from the Central Plains.

Its form follows the traditional model of round coins with square central holes used in the Chinese cultural sphere. The outer rim is comparatively broad, with a rounded and undulating surface, and the inner rim is raised. The inscription reads “Wu Zhu” in seal script. The character “Zhu” is crudely executed: the radical for “metal” is incomplete, and the “Zhu” component is blurred, indicating a local imitation. The coin’s field is plain and undecorated, while both the outer rim and inner rim are indistinctly raised. The overall shape is irregular. The addition of the inner rim on the obverse became a feature only after the Eastern Han dynasty, when Emperor Ming of Wei recommenced the casting of Wu Zhu coins in AD 227. Nevertheless, the fabric—such as the thickness of the flan and the filing technique—differs from the monetary types of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. In AD 1986, coins of similar form, including Han-character Wu Zhu and bilingual Han–Kuchean pieces, were excavated southeast of Kuqa County, Aksu, which may provide corroborative evidence.

According to one source, this specimen originated in Bukhara. However, whether it was cast locally or introduced there in circulation appears unlikely. Although Zhang Qian opened communications with the Western Regions during the Western Han, and Emperor Xuan established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, the administrative seat was located only at Wulei City, still to the east of the Kingdom of Kucha. The Han court could exert indirect influence upon the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin, yet it was difficult to extend power across the Pamirs. The sole exception was the Han campaign against the city of Zhizhi (modern Taraz, Tajikistan) under Emperor Yuan, but this did not reach as far as Kangju—often regarded as the precursor to Sogdiana—and certainly not its core at Samarkand, let alone Bukhara. Furthermore, the Transoxiana region successively came under the rule of the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Kushan Empire, and the Sasanian Empire. The Kushans, in particular, centred their dominion on this area. It possessed a relatively independent monetary tradition, relying for centuries on Hellenistic-style gold and silver coinage as the principal medium of circulation. Finally, the ratio of weight to value in Chinese bronze coins was inadequate for use as a medium of long-distance commerce. At that time, Sogdian merchants were more likely to convert such coins in China into lightweight, high-value commodities such as silk. As of AD 2025, no Wu Zhu coin has been formally recorded from the Bukhara region. It was only in the Tang period, when Tang military control extended as far as Suyab (modern Tokmak in northern Kyrgyzstan), that Tang coinage was accepted by merchants and inhabitants in Transoxiana.

The Kingdom of Kucha was first noted by the Central Plains dynasties at the time of Zhang Qian’s mission to the Western Regions and was long ruled by the Bai dynasty. Centred on the Kuqa oasis, at its height it controlled the entire northern route around the Taklamakan Desert. It frequently cooperated with Chinese regimes in resisting nomadic peoples from the north. Around the beginning of the Common Era, Buddhism entered Kucha via the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Parthian Empire, and the Greater Yuezhi, later passing onward into the Central Plains. In Kucha itself, Buddhist culture reached its zenith in the third and fourth centuries. The Kuchean script found on bilingual Han–Kuchean coins was derived from Brahmi script of India transmitted along this route, and such coins were first struck in the third or fourth century. Consequently, the imitation of Han coins is unlikely to post-date the third century.

物件編號: A3513

參考文獻編號: 中國錢幣大辭典·魏晉南北朝編，頁208

年代: 公元 227-300 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.7 x 24.1 x 0.9 mm

重量: 2.35 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚應為龜茲王國(今新疆阿克蘇地區)仿鑄中原地區貨幣所鑄之五銖錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面外輪稍粗，起伏圓潤，內廓隱起。錢文「五銖」篆書，「銖」字「金」旁缺筆「朱」旁漫漶，應為本地仿鑄。錢幕光素無文，外輪內廓隱起不清晰。錢形不甚規整。錢面加鑄內廓為東漢以後，魏明帝始復鑄五銖(公元227年)之特徵，但形制如錢肉厚薄、磨鑢方式又與魏晉南北朝諸錢形制稍有差別，公元1986年，新疆阿克蘇庫車縣東南有類似形制的漢文五銖錢與漢龜二體錢一同出土，或足佐證。

據來源稱此枚錢幣來自布哈拉，但無論是本地冶鑄或流通到此，可能性皆不高。西漢張騫雖鑿空西域，漢宣帝更是設立西域都護府，但府治僅在烏壘城，還在龜茲王國以東。對於塔里木盆地之諸綠洲城邦尚且能有間接的影響力，但難以向西跨越帕米爾高原，僅有的一例為漢元帝時遠征郅支城(今塔吉克塔拉斯)，但還未及康居(有論為粟特前身)的核心地區撒馬爾罕，更遑論布哈拉。其次，河中地區先後受塞琉古帝國、希臘-巴克特里亞王國、貴霜王朝、薩珊王朝等控制，貴霜王朝更是以河中地區為核心，該地有著相對獨立的貨幣體系與傳統，長期以希臘化風格的金銀幣為主要流通貨幣。最後，中原銅錢在重量與價值的比率上實不足以擔負作為長途貿易的媒介，當時的粟特商人更可能將銅錢在漢地換成絲綢等質輕高價的貨物。截至公元2025年，尚未有在布哈拉地區發現五銖錢的正式紀錄。至唐時，唐軍最遠實控至碎葉城(今吉爾吉斯北部托克馬克)，才使唐錢為河中地區商民所接受。

龜茲王國最早於張騫通西域時為中原王朝所認識，長期由白氏王朝統治。以庫車綠洲為中心，最盛時曾控制整段塔克拉瑪干沙漠北道。長期與中原政權合作，抵禦北方遊牧民族。大約在公元初年，佛教經希臘-巴克特里亞王國、安息帝國、大月氏等國傳入龜茲，後更傳入漢地。龜茲本地，佛教文化至三、四世紀時達至鼎盛。漢龜二體錢上的龜茲文則是經此傳播路線，由印度婆羅米文改造而來，始鑄年間大概也在三、四世紀。因此，仿造漢錢的鑄行大概不會晚於三世紀。