Item number: A3883

Year: AD 502-557

Material: Bronze

Size: 24.2 x 24.3 x 0.4 mm

Weight: 1.45 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin should be a Wu Zhu issue first cast in AD 502, the first year of the Tianjian reign under Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty in the Southern Dynasties period. It differs from the contemporaneously introduced “Tianjian Wu Zhu” in being lighter and smaller, and is known as the Standard-issue Reduced-weight Wu Zhu Coin. Its latest period of casting and circulation was probably no later than the fall of Liang in AD 557.

The coin conforms to the Sinosphere tradition of the round coin with a square central perforation. On the obverse it lacks both outer rim and inner border; on the reverse only an inner border is present. The inscription is the seal-script “Wu Zhu”, read from right to left. The module is relatively large.

In the early Liang, the Tianjian Wu Zhu and the Standard-issue Reduced-weight Wu Zhu Coin were promulgated in parallel as two grades in order to remedy a shortage of currency. Here “standard-issue” denotes an official government issue, while “female coin” is a metaphor formed by contrasting the reduced-weight coin with the heavier Tianjian Wu Zhu, likened respectively to female and male. The policy intention appears to have been to treat the Tianjian Wu Zhu as a full-value standard currency, while using the reduced-weight coin to supplement market demand. However, judging from coin moulds recovered from an official minting site, moulds for reduced-weight coins account for more than ninety per cent of the total. Owing to indiscriminate casting by both official and private parties, public trust was not secured, and the market continued to employ older coins in circulation since the Han. Monetary disorder persisted despite repeated prohibitions. Consequently, in AD 524 (the fourth year of Putong), Emperor Wu issued an edict to “abolish all copper coin and recast iron coin”, thereby inaugurating the extensive use of iron coinage in subsequent dynasties. Iron was cheap and readily available, and easier to smelt and cast; both officials and commoners therefore indulged in uncontrolled private casting. Iron coins rapidly flooded the market: “…wherever one went, iron coins were piled like hills; prices soared. Traders transported coins by cart, no longer counting them, but speaking only in strings.” Thereafter, because iron coins corroded easily, currency again became scarce, and a pricing practice known as “short hundreds” (duan mo) emerged, in which fewer than one hundred coins were nevertheless reckoned as a “hundred” (mo, notionally one hundred). Inflation and deflation thus followed one another within little more than a decade, producing economic stagnation. The History of the Northern Dynasties records that after Emperor Wu’s death, Emperor Yuan of Liang cast “coins worth ten”, though the metal—copper or iron—remains uncertain. The Book of Liang states that Emperor Jing of Liang prohibited iron coin and introduced “Four-pillar Wu Zhu”, as an attempt to restore monetary order. The Book of Sui further claims that in the final years of Liang “Two-pillar coins” were cast; their surviving counterparts are unclear, though they are widely taken to correspond to the number of stars on the obverse and reverse.

After Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, died in the turmoil of the Hou Jing Rebellion, Hou Jing successively deposed and installed Emperor Jianwen of Liang and the young emperor, and later proclaimed himself emperor, adopting the state name Han, the so-called Hou Han. Hou Han was suppressed when Xiao Yi, Prince of Xiangdong, ordered Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian to campaign against him. After the imperial clansman Xiao Ji established a separatist regime in Shu, Xiao Yi invited Western Wei forces into Shu to overthrow Xiao Ji. Xiao Yi then proclaimed himself emperor, becoming Emperor Yuan of Liang. He sought to negotiate with Yuwen Tai, the powerful minister of Western Wei, in the hope of recovering Shu, but instead provoked Yuwen Tai to send troops. Emperor Yuan was ultimately defeated at Jiangling and executed by agents of Western Wei. Western Wei and Wang Sengbian then supported the enthronement of Emperor Min of Liang, but Chen Baxian killed Wang Sengbian, repelled Western Wei, and installed Emperor Jing of Liang. Finally, in AD 557 (the second year of Taiping), Emperor Jing abdicated in favour of Chen Baxian, who founded the Chen dynasty as Emperor Wu of Chen.

物件編號: A3883

年代: 公元 502-557 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 24.2 x 24.3 x 0.4 mm

重量: 1.45 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

此錢應為於南朝梁武帝天監元年(公元502年)始鑄之五銖錢，有別於同期始鑄的「天監五銖」，更為輕小，稱「公式女錢」，鑄行最晚大約至梁亡(公元557年)。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，正面無外輪內廓，背面僅有內廓。錢文為篆書「五銖」，由右至左順讀。錢樣較大。

梁初推行天監五銖、公式女錢二品並行，以補通貨之不足。「公式」為官府發行之意，「女錢」則因與天監五銖相較，一輕一重，故以一雌一雄相喻。大約原意圖以天監五銖為足值的標準貨幣，再以減重的公式女錢適當補充市場需求。但依官署鑄錢遺址的錢範來看，減重錢佔錢範總數的九成以上。由於官、私濫鑄，不受商民信任，市場仍行用漢以來古錢。貨幣紊亂，禁不能止。是以於普通四年(公元524年)，梁武帝詔「盡罷銅錢，更鑄鐵錢」，開歷朝大量行用鐵錢之先。鐵賤易得，且冶鑄容易，官民放縱私鑄，於是鐵錢很快浮濫於市場，「……(市場)所在鐵錢，遂如丘山，物價騰貴。交易者以車載錢，不復計數，而唯論貫。」其後由於鐵錢易鏽，通貨愈少，反而出現以不足百枚而稱「陌」(通百)的「短陌」計價方式。通貨膨脹與通貨緊縮在十數年間接踵而至，造成經濟蕭條。《北史》載武帝死後，梁元帝鑄當十大錢，銅鐵未知。《梁書》則載梁敬帝禁鐵錢，並鑄行「四柱五銖」，嘗試整頓貨幣。《隋書》則稱梁末鑄「兩柱錢」，對應實物均不明，但多認為是對應面背之星數。

梁武帝蕭衍於侯景之亂中逝後，侯景先後廢立梁簡文帝、梁少帝，後自立為帝，國號漢，稱侯漢。侯漢由湘東王蕭繹命王僧辯與陳霸先討平，蜀地宗室蕭紀割據自立後，蕭繹引西魏兵入蜀，覆滅蕭紀。後蕭繹稱帝，是為梁元帝。梁元帝諭令西魏權臣宇文泰，冀交還蜀地，但激怒宇文泰發兵，梁元帝終敗於江陵，被西魏派人處死。西魏與王僧辯先擁立梁閔帝，陳霸先則殺王僧辯，退西魏，立梁敬帝。最終於梁太平二年(公元557年)，梁敬帝禪位於陳霸先，國號陳，是為陳武帝。