Item number: A3804

Reference number: DCD#657-5

Year: AD 953-959

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.1 x 22.9 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 2.95 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a bronze coin of the inscription “Datang Tongbao,” first cast after AD 953 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history, under Li Jing, the second ruler of the Southern Tang, following the eleventh year of the Baoda reign.

The coin conforms to the traditional round cash coin with a square central perforation characteristic of the Han cultural sphere. The obverse inscription reads “Datang Tongbao” in clerical script, to be read vertically from top to bottom and horizontally from right to left. The character da is connected to the outer rim, while in the character bao the secondary dot stroke is broken. The reverse is plain and uninscribed; however, areas of indistinct raised metal appear, resembling a half-star motif on the upper reverse. The overall workmanship is relatively fine.

The Southern Tang was founded in AD 937 by Li Bian, who claimed descent from the Tang imperial house. Its territory encompassed the most prosperous Jiang–Huai region, with the capital established at Jinling (modern Nanjing). Among the regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Southern Tang ranked among the most prolific in coin production, reflecting its comparatively advanced social, economic, and cultural development. After the death of Li Bian in AD 943, however, the state faced aggression from the rising Later Zhou in the north, and its power gradually declined. Li Jing, who ascended the throne in AD 943, minted in succession the coins Tangguo Tongbao, Datang Tongbao, and Baoda Yuanbao in order to finance prolonged military campaigns. In AD 958, following military defeat, Li Jing relinquished the imperial title, adopted the designation of “ruler of the state,” and acknowledged the Later Zhou as the legitimate dynasty. In AD 975, Li Yu, grandson of Li Bian—later renowned to posterity as the “Poet Emperor of a Thousand Ages”—surrendered to Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song dynasty, who had usurped the Later Zhou, thereby bringing the history of the Southern Tang to an end.

物件編號: A3804

參考書目編號: DCD#657-5

年代: 公元 953-959 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.1 x 22.9 x 0.9 mm

重量: 2.95 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚鑄造於中國歷史上的五代十國時期，南唐第二位統治者李璟於保大十一年(公元953年)以後，始鑄的「大唐通寶」青銅錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，正面錢文為「大唐通寶」隸書，由上而下，由右至左對讀。「大」字連輪；「寶」字次筆點劃斷筆。錢幕光素無文，但漫漶凸起處頗似背上半星版。工藝尚佳。

南唐由自稱為唐朝後裔的李昪建立於公元937年，其疆域控制最為富饒的江淮地區並定都於金陵(今南京)。南唐的鑄幣量為五代十國的佼佼者，擁有發達的社會經濟文化。然而自公元943年，李昪駕崩以後，南唐面臨北方的新興之秀後周的侵略，國勢日益衰弱。公元943年即位的李璟，為補連年兵亂的軍資，先後鑄行唐國通寶、大唐通寶、保大元寶。公元958年，李璟兵敗，去帝號，改稱國主，奉後周為正朔。公元975年，李昪的孫子李煜，即以「千古詞帝」文學成就為後人所知的李後主，向篡奪後周政權的宋太祖趙匡胤投降，就此結束南唐的歷史。