Item number: A3847

Year: AD 1179-1189

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.2 x 23.2 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 2.7 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a reign-title coin issued during the reign of Emperor Shizong of Jin, first cast in the eighteenth year of the Dàdìng era (AD 1178).

The coin follows the traditional square-holed round format of the Sinitic cultural sphere. The obverse bears the inscription “Dàdìng Tōngbǎo” (大定通寶) in regular script, read vertically from top to bottom and from right to left. The strokes are slender and forceful, with a form reminiscent of the Slender Gold style. Above the inscription, on the coin field, there is a nail mark (jiahen). Such marks are commonly found on coins cast after the Tang period and were once explained by a legend that palace women scratched nail marks into wax models, which craftsmen dared not remove and thus cast into the coin. In reality, these marks were most likely impressed by craftsmen using the edge of a mother coin, serving as identifiers for different furnaces. The overall outlines of the inscription are diffuse and indistinct, possibly indicating private casting. Below the square perforation there is a dot, referred to as a “star.” Finds are concentrated largely in Heilongjiang.

Emperor Shizong of Jin, Wanyan Yong, reigned from AD 1161 to 1189 and was a pivotal ruler in the Jin dynasty’s transition from military expansion to civil consolidation. He ascended the throne in the aftermath of Emperor Hailing’s failed southern campaign against the Southern Song, at a time when internal politics were unstable, military administration was disordered, and the populace was exhausted. After his accession, Shizong swiftly reoriented state policy, bringing an end to reckless warfare against the Southern Song and establishing recovery of production and social stabilisation as the core of governance. Politically, he emphasised institutional development, reformed the bureaucratic system, curtailed the dominance of powerful ministers, strictly restrained interference by members of the imperial clan, and strengthened the legal framework to rectify official conduct. He continued and deepened the application of Chinese legal and administrative practices, further promoting the transformation of Jurchen aristocrats into a civil-official elite and reinforcing central authority. Economically, he reduced taxes and corvée obligations, encouraged agriculture, restored irrigation works, and facilitated the recovery of population and land, leading to gradual social stability and improved fiscal conditions. In cultural and institutional terms, Shizong upheld Confucian learning, valued education and the examination system, and promoted integration between Jurchen and Han cultures, laying the foundation for the Jin polity’s shift from martial to civil governance. In foreign relations, he pursued a pragmatic approach, maintaining relatively stable peace agreements with the Southern Song and avoiding large-scale military conflict, thereby allowing the state a prolonged period of recuperation. Overall, his nearly three-decade reign saw a revival of national strength and social order; later historians referred to this period as the “Great Dàdìng Governance,” regarding it as one of the most enlightened and enduring eras of the Jin dynasty.

Despite political stability, the gradual economic recovery of the Jin dynasty brought a sharp increase in domestic demand for currency. However, the volume of coinage produced by the Jin state remained limited. One reason was the scarcity of major copper sources within Jin territory, with significant copper deposits largely confined to areas such as Daxing Prefecture, Zhen­ding, and the Tianshan region; overall copper availability in the north was inferior to that of the Song realm. Another factor was the high cost of minting: in the nineteenth year of Dàdìng (AD 1179), more than 800,000 strings of cash were reportedly expended to cast just over 16,000 strings’ worth of coins. By the fourth year of Tài­hé (AD 1204), the situation had not improved; when the court considered increasing copper coin production, officials warned that the cost of minting a single coin amounted to ten coins’ worth. In practice, commercial transactions relied largely on old Northern Song and Liao coins, as well as newly smuggled Southern Song issues. Even so, currency remained insufficient. In the second year of Zhēnyuán (AD 1154), paper money (jiaochao) was issued, but it quickly became overissued and lost credibility. In the second year of Chéng’ān (AD 1197), silver coins were introduced in an attempt to replace weight-based silver currencies such as silver ingots and bars, but these too were soon eliminated from circulation due to clipping and extraction of silver. Throughout the Jin dynasty, although metallurgical techniques were relatively advanced—owing in part to the capture of skilled craftsmen and equipment from Northern Song centres such as Bianjing—the problem of monetary scarcity remained unresolved until the dynasty’s eventual destruction by the Mongols.

物件編號: A3847

年代: 公元 1179-1189 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.2 x 23.2 x 0.7 mm

重量: 2.7 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚出自金朝世宗時期的年號錢，大定十八年(公元1178年)始鑄。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。正面錢文「大定通寶」楷書，由上至下，由右至左對讀。筆畫瘦勁，形仿瘦金體。錢幕上方有一甲痕。甲痕常見於唐以後鑄幣上，曾有后妃以指甲在蠟樣上劃出甲痕，匠人不敢去除而鑄成的傳說。實際應為工匠以母錢邊緣壓印而成，用作爐別的記號。下方有一點，稱星。整體錢文輪廓夷漫，或為私鑄。多於黑龍江出土。

金世宗完顏雍，公元1161至1189年在位。其為金代由盛轉治過程中的關鍵君主。其即位時，正值海陵王完顏亮南侵失敗、國內政局動盪之後，軍政失序、民力困敝。世宗即位後，迅速調整國策，結束對南宋的冒進戰爭，確立以恢復生產、安定社會為施政重心，使金朝逐步走出戰後困局。在政治上，金世宗重視制度建設，整頓官僚體系，抑制權臣專斷，嚴格約束宗室干政，並強化法制以整肅吏治。他延續並深化漢法治理，進一步推動女真貴族向文官體制轉化，使中央集權更趨穩定。經濟方面，世宗減免賦役，鼓勵農桑，修復水利，促進人口與土地的恢復，社會秩序逐漸安定，財政狀況亦隨之改善。在文化與制度層面，金世宗尊崇儒學，重視教育與科舉，促進女真與漢人文化的融合，為金代政治由武治轉向文治奠定基礎。對外則奉行務實政策，與南宋維持相對穩定的和議關係，避免大規模軍事衝突，使國家得以長期休養生息。總體而言，世宗在位近三十年，國勢回升，社會穩定，史稱「大定之治」，被視為金代最為清明、持久的治世之一。

但政治穩定下，隨著金朝經濟的日漸復甦，國內的貨幣需求大增。然而金朝鑄錢的數量一直有限，其一乃因金朝境內較大銅源大約只有大興府、真定、天山等地銅礦，北方銅料少於宋境。其二為鑄錢成本過高，大定十九年(公元1179年)以八十餘萬貫成本鑄一萬六千餘貫錢。至泰和四年(公元1204年)仍未改善，當時金朝有意增鑄銅錢，但有官員就提醒，鑄造一錢需要十錢的成本。實際商貿多用北宋、遼代舊錢與南宋走私之新錢。但貨幣仍嫌不足，於是貞元二年(公元1154年)曾發交鈔，但很快流於浮濫，失去信用。承安二年(公元1197年)更曾發銀幣，嘗試取代「銀鋌」、「銀錠」等重量貨幣，但很快因鑿剪取銀而從市場上被淘汰。有金一朝，由於擄掠北宋汴京等地的精良工匠與器械，冶煉工藝頗佳，但至蒙古滅金，未能解決貨幣短缺的問題。