Item number: A3773

Item number: DCD#184-1

Year: AD 495-528

Material: Bronze

Size: 22.5 x 22.3 mm

Weight: 2.9 g

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. Werner Klaus Burger Collection

This is a Taihe Wu Zhu coin first cast under Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei.

The coin conforms to the traditional Han cultural sphere format of a round coin with a square central perforation, with complete outer rims and inner borders on both obverse and reverse. The obverse bears the seal-script inscription “Taihe Wu Zhu,” read vertically from top to bottom and from right to left, with comparatively bold and robust characters. In the character tai (太), the left-falling and right-falling strokes are bent, a form known as “folded-leg tai.” The character wu (五) is rendered with straight strokes. The character zhu (銖) is particularly worn, and within the metal radical (金) there is a broken stroke. The reverse is plain and uninscribed.

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, originally named Tuoba Hong, reigned from AD 471 to 499. In order to secure long-term rule over the Chinese heartland, he promoted a systematic programme of Sinicisation and institutional reform. These measures included relocating the capital to Luoyang, changing the imperial surname from Tuoba to Yuan, implementing Han Chinese official institutions and legal codes, consolidating the equal-field system and the sanzhang administrative system, and standardising dress, language, and marriage practices, thereby weakening tribal distinctions and strengthening centralised authority. These reforms undermined the political foundations established since the founding of the dynasty under Emperor Daowu, which had centred on tribal military organisation and chieftain-based governance. In the short term, the reforms significantly enhanced Northern Wei administrative efficiency as well as fiscal and military mobilisation capacity, enabling the dynasty to maintain a relatively stable north–south confrontation with the Southern Dynasties. However, Emperor Xiaowen’s reforms also intensified resentment among the old Xianbei aristocracy and the frontier garrison troops, becoming a direct cause of the Revolt of the Six Garrisons and ultimately leading to the division of Northern Wei into Eastern and Western Wei.

Before the relocation of the capital to Luoyang, Northern Wei had not issued coinage. Only after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital was the Taihe Wu Zhu cast and circulated, in order to adapt to the monetary economy of the Chinese heartland. Minting continued into the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, during which it circulated concurrently with the Yong’an Wu Zhu and Yongping Wu Zhu. Although issued over a relatively long period, the overall volume of production was limited, and circulation appears to have been largely confined to the metropolitan region. Later discoveries have been made mainly in Luoyang and Yanshi in Henan, and in Xi’an in Shaanxi. Moreover, private minting was alternately tolerated and prohibited, leading to a proliferation of debased coins; as a result, in areas distant from the capital region, grain and textiles were more commonly used as media of exchange.

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: A3773

年代: 公元 495-528 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 22.5 x 22.3 mm

重量: 2.9 g

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

這是一枚北魏孝文帝始鑄之「太和五銖」。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，面背外輪及內廓俱全。正面錢文為篆書「太和五銖」，自上而下，自右而左對讀，字體較粗壯。｢太｣字撇捺曲折，稱「折腿太」；「五」字直筆；「銖」字尤為漫漶，「金」旁有斷筆。錢幕光素無文。

北魏孝文帝，原名拓跋宏，公元471至499年在位。任內為於漢地進行長期統治，故推動一系列系統性的漢化與制度改革，包括遷都洛陽、改拓跋姓為元、推行漢族官制與法律、整飭均田制與三長制、規範服飾語言與婚姻制度，以削弱部族界線並強化中央集權。改革動搖了道武帝建國以來，以部族軍事與酋長體制為中心的統治基礎。在短期內，改革有效提升了北魏的行政效率與財政、兵源動員能力，使其得以與南朝形成相對穩定的南北對峙格局。然而，孝文帝改革亦激化了鮮卑舊貴族與邊鎮軍人的不滿，成為六鎮之亂的直接原因，最終導致北魏分裂為東、西魏。

北魏遷都洛陽前，未曾鑄錢。直至孝文帝遷都洛陽後，才鑄行「太和五銖」以適應漢地的貨幣經濟。至孝明帝年間仍有鑄行，與其間鑄行的永安五銖、永平五銖一併行用。雖鑄行較久，但鑄量不大，大約只在京畿附近流通，後世僅於河南洛陽、偃師、陝西西安等地有出土。加以私鑄時縱時禁，惡錢泛濫，於是於遠離京畿之處，多以穀帛交易。

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。