Item number: A3855

Year: AD 943-957

Material: Bronze

Size: 24.0 x 24.1 x 1.1 mm

Weight: 4.25 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a bronze Kaiyuan Tongbao coin cast during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history by Li Jing, the second ruler of the Southern Tang, modelled on the Tang-dynasty Kaiyuan Tongbao. It was first minted in Baoda 1 (AD 943).

The coin conforms to the traditional Sinosphere form of a round cash coin with a square central hole. The obverse inscription, Kaiyuan Tongbao, is written in seal script and read vertically from top to bottom and right to left. The final two dots of the character bao (寶) are relatively short. The reverse surface is plain and uninscribed.

The Southern Tang was founded in AD 937 by Li Bian, who claimed descent from the Tang imperial house. The regime controlled the highly prosperous Jianghuai region and established its capital at Jinling (modern Nanjing). Among the states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Southern Tang was outstanding in the volume of its coinage and possessed a highly developed economy and culture. Following the death of Li Bian in AD 943, however, the Southern Tang increasingly faced military pressure from the rising Later Zhou in the north, and its national strength steadily declined. Li Jing, who ascended the throne in AD 943, sought to finance successive military campaigns by issuing coins such as Tangguo Tongbao, Datang Tongbao, and Baoda Yuanbao. He also “separately cast coins in the Tang style with seal-script inscriptions”, producing a seal-script Kaiyuan Tongbao. The calligraphy was based on the handwriting of Xu Xuan, a senior Southern Tang statesman renowned for his mastery of Li Si’s small seal script. In AD 958, after suffering military defeat, Li Jing relinquished the imperial title, adopted the designation of ruler, and recognised the Later Zhou as the legitimate dynasty. In AD 975, Li Yu, the grandson of Li Bian—later celebrated as the “Eternal Emperor of Song Lyrics” for his literary achievements—surrendered to Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor 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: A3849

年代: 公元 943-957 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 24.0 x 24.1 x 1.1 mm

重量: 4.25 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，仿唐時開元通寶，於保大元年(公元943年)，始鑄的「開元通寶」青銅錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，正面錢文為「開元通寶」篆書，由上而下，由右至左對讀。「寶」字末二點筆較短。錢幕光素無文。

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。並「又別鑄如唐制而篆文」，鑄行篆文開元通寶，採徐鉉手書，為南唐重臣，擅李斯小篆。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。