Item number: A3783

Year: AD 759-762

Material: Bronze

Size: 29.2 x 29.0 mm

Weight: 6.2 g

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. Werner Klaus Burger Collection

This is a double-rim Qianyuan Zhongbao copper coin cast and put into circulation in the second year of the Qianyuan reign of Emperor Suzong of the Tang dynasty (758 AD). It was issued on the recommendation of Diwu Qi, then serving as Censor-in-Chief, in order to raise military funds for suppressing the An Lushan Rebellion. One double-rim Qianyuan Zhongbao was officially valued at fifty Kaiyuan Tongbao coins.

The coin conforms to the traditional Sinosphere form of a round coin with a square central perforation. The obverse inscription “Qianyuan Zhongbao” is written in clerical script and read vertically from top to bottom, then from right to left. In the character Qian, the qi component is rendered as a single vertical curved hook, forming the variant “乹”; in Yuan, the second horizontal stroke rises upwards on the left; in Bao, the fou component is written as “尔”, producing the form “寳”, with the final two dots executed in a manner resembling the shape “ㄦ”. The coin’s outer rim is sharply ridged, thicker on the exterior and thinner on the interior, a feature known as a “double ridge” or “double rim”. Below the square perforation appears an auspicious cloud motif, referred to as the “auspicious cloud beneath the hole”. The remaining fields are plain and smooth.

The Qianyuan Zhongbao represents the first instance in Chinese history in which the term “Zhongbao” (“precious currency”) was used as a coin inscription, deriving from the phrase “Coinage is the state’s precious treasure”. Although its period of production lasted less than five years, numerous variants were created, particularly with differing reverse designs. Common motifs include stars, moons, auspicious clouds, and birds.

Diwu Qi, whose compound surname was Diwu and given name Qi, was a native of Chang’an in Jingzhao and became known for his administrative ability at an early age. After the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion in 755 AD, he assisted Helan Jing, Governor of Beihai Commandery, in resisting the rebel forces. Subsequently, when granted an audience with Emperor Suzong, Diwu Qi volunteered himself as a special commissioner to aid the court in raising military funds. In addition to monopolising the procurement of salt and iron, one of his principal measures was the casting of the high-denomination fiduciary coin Qianyuan Zhongbao. Initially, a single Qianyuan Zhongbao weighing 6.5 grams was exchanged for ten Kaiyuan Tongbao coins with a combined weight of approximately 40 grams. The weight of later issues was further reduced to about 4 grams, enabling the state to extract a tenfold profit from the populace. In 759 AD, Diwu Qi went further by issuing a “double-rim Qianyuan Zhongbao”, bearing two concentric rims on the reverse; although weighing only about 12 grams, it was rated at fifty Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, whose total weight amounted to roughly 200 grams. While the casting of such coins—nominally of great value but intrinsically worth very little—could provide urgently needed military funds in the short term, it inevitably led to inflation in the long run.

Subsequently, large numbers of privately cast imitations of Qianyuan Zhongbao appeared. In response, the government not only imposed severe punishments but also further reduced the coin weight in an attempt to deprive private minters of profit; these measures, however, proved largely ineffective. According to the Old Book of Tang, many large bells and Buddhist statues in the temples of Chang’an were melted down for illicit coinage, and those willing to take such risks were too numerous to count. This situation resulted in the remarkable phenomenon that the heaviest Qianyuan Zhongbao could reach as much as 40 grams, while the lightest weighed less than 1 gram. In A Corpus of Qianyuan Zhongbao Coins compiled by the Japanese numismatist Yoshida Shōji, as many as 667 varieties are recorded. Ultimately, in the first year of the Baoying reign (762 AD), all large and small coins, together with Kaiyuan Tongbao, were declared to circulate at parity, effectively abolishing the policy of fiduciary high-denomination coinage. Although historical sources do not explicitly state this, archaeological finds and surviving specimens suggest that during the Baoying period there were also smaller-sized Qianyuan Zhongbao small cash coins. In the first year of the Guangde reign (763 AD), Emperor Daizong of Tang, who had succeeded to the throne, issued an edict terminating the casting of Qianyuan Zhongbao. Diwu Qi, having lost out in political struggles, was exiled to what is now the frontier region of Guizhou, and was not reinstated until the later years of Emperor Daizong’s reign. Thereafter, as copper became more valuable than the coinage itself, most Qianyuan Zhongbao were melted down for utensils; by the sixth year of the Dali reign of Emperor Daizong (771 AD), Qianyuan Zhongbao had virtually disappeared from circulation.

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: A3783

年代: 公元 759-762 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 29.2 x 29.0 mm

重量: 6.2 g

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

這是一枚唐肅宗乾元二年(公元758年)，在時任御史中丞的第五琦建議下，為籌措軍費以平定安史之亂而鑄行的「重輪乾元重寶」銅幣。一枚該「重輪乾元重寶」當五十枚「開元通寶」錢。

錢幣的形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，錢面錢文「乾元重寶」隸書。四字由上至下，由右至左對讀。「乾」字「乞」旁寫為一豎曲鉤，呈「乹」；「元」字次橫劃左側上挑；「寶」字「缶」旁寫為「尔」，呈「寳」，末二點筆寫法近「ㄦ」。錢幕外輪重稜，外粗內細，稱「重稜」或「重輪」。錢穿下方有一祥雲圖樣，稱「穿下祥雲」。其餘地章光平。

乾元重寶是中國歷史上，首次將「重寶」兩字作為錢文的貨幣，出自「錢，國之重寶」典故。乾元重寶鑄造歷時不滿五年，卻有多種變形版本，尤其錢幣背面有不同圖案，常見者有：星、月、祥雲、雀鳥等不同圖飾。

第五琦，複姓「第五」，名「琦」，出身京兆長安，少時便以能幹而知名。公元755年，安史之亂爆發後，第五琦輔佐北海郡太守賀蘭敬抵擋叛軍。後續覲見唐肅宗之際，乘機毛遂自薦擔任專使協助朝廷籌措軍費。第五琦壟斷鹽鐵收購外，另一項措施是鑄造虛值大錢的乾元重寶，起初以一枚重6.5克的乾元重寶兌換市面總重量為40克的十枚開元通寶。後續乾元重寶的重量還下調至4克，代表國家能從民間拿到十倍的利潤。公元759年，第五琦更鑄造背面有兩道錢輪的「重輪乾元重寶」，重量僅有12克卻能兌換五十枚開元通寶(總重量為200克)。鑄造這種面額看似龐大，實際價值卻極為有限的錢幣，雖然能在短期籌措到亟需的軍費，長期下來卻會造成通貨膨脹。

後續民間紛紛仿鑄乾元重寶，政府祭出嚴厲的懲罰外，更進一步降低錢幣重量以期待私鑄者無利可圖，效果卻極為有限。據《舊唐書》紀載，長安城內寺廟的大鍾和佛像多被熔毀用以私鑄貨幣，社會上鋌而走險者不可勝數。這也導致乾元重寶最重者達到40克，最輕者卻不足1克的怪象產生。日本錢幣收藏家吉田昭二著作的《乾元重寶錢譜》，整理的種類有高達667種之譜。最終於寶應元年(公元762年)，所有大小錢與開元通寶以一當一，一併通行。事實上廢止了虛值大錢的政策。而雖然史籍並未言明，據出土及傳世實物，寶應年間應另有鑄行錢體較小的乾元重寶小平錢。廣德元年(公元763年)，繼位的唐代宗下詔停止鑄造乾元重寶。政治鬥爭失利的第五琦也被流放到今日的貴州邊疆，直到唐代宗晚期才重新被起用。後乾元重寶因錢賤銅貴，多遭銷銅鑄器，至唐代宗大曆六年(公元771年)之時，市面上已經無法找到乾元重寶了。

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。