Item number: A3840／A3841

Year: AD 14-23

Material: Bronze

Size: 58.1 x 21.8 x 2.7 mm (A3840)／58.0 x 22.0 x 2.6 mm (A3841)

Weight: 16.3 g (A3840)／15.65 g (A3841)

Provenance: Spink 2023

These are Huo Bu coin, which were cast and circulated between the first year of Tianfeng and the fourth year of Dihuang under the Xin regime (AD 14–23). In form, they belongs to the bu coinage tradition (spade coin), which, since the Eastern Zhou period, imitated agricultural implements.

Raised rims are present around the outer edge of the obverse and reverse, as well as around the circular perforation at the head of the blade. The obverse bears the inscription “Huo Bu” (貨布), written in xuanzhen seal script and read from right to left. This script style is characterised by strokes that are thicker at the top and taper towards the bottom, a structure that is dense above and more open below, and an overall effect described as pared down, elegant, forceful, and upright. Between the characters “Huo” and “Bu,” a vertical line extends from the perforation down to the crotch. The reverse mirrors the obverse design but omits the inscription. According to compositional analyses conducted by the China Numismatic Museum, Huo Bu coins are primarily composed of primarily of a ternary copper–lead–tin mixture, with copper content ranging from 75.27% to 85.24%, lead from 7.52% to 17.46%, tin from 3.67% to 6.04%, iron from 0.12% to 1.40%, zinc from 0.008% to 0.043%, silver from 0.16% to 0.22%, nickel from 0.061% to 0.069%, and cobalt from 0.009% to 0.037%. Known varieties include heavy specimens, reduced-size types, small-character issues, double-backed pieces, marked varieties, cracked-inscription types, and wide-crotch forms. The specimen designated A3840 belongs to the small-character variety and was excavated in Zhengzhou, Henan.

In AD 6, Wang Mang assumed control of state affairs in the capacity of Acting Regent (jushe), a period known in historiography as “holding the reins of government.” He later proclaimed himself emperor, replacing the Han and founding the Xin dynasty. From the second year of the regency to the first year of Tianfeng (AD 7–14), in order to centralise wealth and secure popular support, the monetary system underwent four successive reforms. Adhering to Zhou-period theories of proportional value between principal and subsidiary coinages, Wang Mang continually invented new denominations and forcibly introduced token coinages of insufficient intrinsic value. At its peak, the system comprised five materials and six names, amounting to twenty-eight distinct denominations. The legal regulations were excessively complex, leaving the populace unable to comply. Each monetary reform triggered market disruption and social unrest, such that “the people’s livelihoods were ruined and they fell deeply into penal sanctions.”

During the second monetary reform, fifty remonstrance officials were dispatched to cast coinage across the commanderies and kingdoms, thereby breaking the long-standing system, in place since the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han, of centralised minting at Shanglin Park. Coin moulds from this period have been excavated in Xi’an (Shaanxi), Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Qinghai, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia.

In the first year of Tianfeng (AD 14), Wang Mang carried out the fourth monetary reform, prohibiting residual coinages and issuing Huo Quan and Huo Bu. Under this system, twenty-five Huo Quan were equivalent to one Huo Bu; the Huo Quan weighed five zhu, while the Huo Bu weighed twenty-five zhu. In the fourth year of Dihuang (AD 23), the Xin regime was overthrown. In the second year of Gengshi (AD 24), Emperor Liu Xuan minted Wu Zhu coins, but he was killed by the Red Eyebrows army the following year. In the third year of Gengshi, Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor and adopted the reign title Jianwu. In the seventeenth year of Jianwu (AD 41), the Wu Zhu coinage was formally restored and remained in use for over five centuries thereafter. Nevertheless, Huo Quan coins continued to circulate alongside them in the marketplace, possibly until Emperor Ming of Han ascended the throne in the first year of Yongping (AD 58).

Wang Mang (c. 45 BC–AD 23) was a member of the Wang clan, an affinal family of the Western Han imperial house. Deeply influenced by Confucian learning, he was widely praised for his moral rectitude. As the nephew of Empress Wang Zhengjun, consort of Emperor Yuan of Han, he rose rapidly within the political hierarchy upon reaching adulthood and ultimately proclaimed himself emperor in AD 9, establishing the Xin dynasty. Claiming to restore ancient institutions, he implemented sweeping reforms of land tenure and the monetary system in an attempt to realise an idealised Confucian society. However, these reforms were excessively idealistic and failed to account for practical realities, resulting in political instability and widespread rebellion. He was ultimately killed during the uprising of the Red Eyebrows, leaving behind a sharply polarised historical legacy as either a usurper or a reformer.

物件編號: A3840／A3841

年代: 公元 14-23 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 58.1 x 21.8 x 2.7 mm (A3840)／58.0 x 22.0 x 2.6 mm (A3841)

重量: 16.3 g (A3840)／15.65 g (A3841)

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一些於新莽天鳳元年至地皇四年(公元14至23年)所鑄行的「貨布」錢幣，其形制為東周以降模仿農具形狀的布幣。

幣面背沿外側與布首處圓形穿孔有凸起邊緣。錢面錢文「貨布」，以懸針篆書寫，由右至左順讀。懸針篆特徵為筆劃上粗下細，結構上密下疏，「削秀勁直」。「貨」、「布」二字間，自穿孔至襠部有一豎線。背部設計與幣面同，唯無「貨布」二字。按中國錢幣博物館之測試，幣材主要為銅鉛錫三元合金，銅含量75.27%至85.24%，鉛含量7.52%至17.46%，3.67%至6.04%，鐵含量0.12%至1.40%，鋅含量0.008%至0.043%，銀含量0.16%至0.22%，鎳含量0.061%至0.069%，鈷含量0.009%至0.037%。版別有厚重、小樣、小字、合背、記號、決文、寬襠等。A3840為小字版，曾出土於河南鄭州。

公元6年，王莽以安漢公的名義執掌朝政，史稱「居攝」，後更稱帝，代漢立新。自居攝二年至天鳳元年間(公元7-14年)，為中央聚歛財富以收買人心，幣制先後四次改革。王莽持周代子母相權論，不斷變造名目，強行推動不足值的新錢。最盛時達五物六名，共二十八品。法令繁苛，民眾無所適從。每次幣改皆引發市場及社會動盪，「民用破產而大陷刑」。

第二次幣制改革時，「遣諫大夫五十人分鑄錢於郡國」，打破了西漢武帝以來集中鑄錢於上林苑的制度。陝西西安、河南、安徽、山東、青海、甘肅、內蒙古均有錢範出土。

天鳳元年(公元14年)，王莽進行第四次幣制改革，禁餘錢，鑄貨泉、貨布，二十五個貨泉值一貨布，貨泉重五銖，貨布重二十五銖。地皇四年(公元23年)，新莽被推翻。更始二年(公元24年)，更始帝劉玄鑄五銖，但次年，劉玄旋見殺於赤眉軍。更始三年，劉秀稱帝，改元建武。建武十七年(公元41年)，始復鑄五銖，此後續用五百餘年。但貨泉仍持續於市場上雜用，可能直至漢明帝於永平元年(公元58年)即位。

王莽(約公元前45年至公元23年)，為西漢外戚王氏家族成員，深受儒學薰陶，以品行端正著稱。身為漢元帝皇后王政君之侄，他於成年後迅速崛起於政壇，最終在公元9年自立為帝，建立「新」朝。王莽自稱恢復古制，推行土地與幣制改革，試圖塑造理想儒家社會。然而改革過於理想化且未顧及現實，導致政局動盪與民變四起。最終在赤眉軍起義中被殺，留下篡權者或改革者的兩極評價。