Item number: A3907

Year: AD 998-1003

Material: Bronze

Size: 29.3 x 29.2 x 2.3 mm

Weight: 12.75 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a “Xianping Yuanbao” cast during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, the third emperor of the Northern Song, under his first reign title. Over his twenty-four-year reign, Emperor Zhenzong employed five reign titles in succession; “Xianping” conveys the sense of “universal peace”.

The coin conforms to the square-holed round cash type traditional to the Sinosphere. The obverse legend “Xianping Yuanbao” is written in regular script and is said to have been personally inscribed by Emperor Zhenzong; the inscription is read from the top character and then clockwise. From Emperor Zhenzong’s father, Emperor Taizong, onwards, several Song emperors personally wrote the calligraphy used on coinage; such issues are known as “imperially inscribed coins” (yushu qian). The character size and style of this “Xianping Yuanbao” approximate the variety termed the “small-type in standard script” (zhengzi xiaoyang), a variety frequently found in Shaanxi. In this specimen, however, the outer rim is exceptionally broadened, the flan is markedly thicker, and the edge has been rounded through wear; collectors therefore refer to it as a “cake coin” (bing qian). It weighs approximately six times as much as the standard type. Besides “Xianping Yuanbao”, the “cake coin” category also includes “Xiangfu Yuanbao”, likewise cast under Zhenzong; both are most often found in the Sichuan–Shu region, where iron cash ought to have been the intended circulating medium. Their rim diameters vary, and they can be stacked to form a tower. The precise purpose is not recorded in historical sources, and they may have represented differing denominations. Because the greatly expanded rim consumed substantial quantities of copper, they are unlikely to have been illicit private castings made for profit. The reverse displays the “four-jue” pattern, in which the four inner corners of the square hole extend diagonally; some cake coins instead show a “four-chu” pattern, where these extensions reach the outer rim. It has been suggested that the four-jue and four-chu marks may be traces left during manufacture: several coins used as prototype “mother coins” for mould-making were secured with metal pins, leaving impressions intended to thicken the final product.

Emperor Zhenzong, personal name Zhao Heng, reigned from AD 997 to AD 1022. Early in his reign he faced harassment from the powerful Liao state to the north; he ultimately concluded the Chanyuan Treaty, which exchanged annual payments for peace. This established a precedent whereby the Song later sought peace with Western Xia and, subsequently, the Jin through regular tribute.

The coinage system of the Northern and Southern Song was complex. Officially circulating media included both copper and iron cash, complemented by paper money that functioned in mutual relation to them. The large-scale official adoption of iron cash was historically unprecedented in the Song, driven by shortages of copper ore and by frontier-region policies intended to prevent copper cash from flowing outward. Silver also gradually assumed an increasingly important role. Copper cash circulated in multiple nominal values, ranging from equivalents of one to ten. Coinage was cast by the various circuits according to local needs: some used only copper cash, others only iron, and others employed both. Calligraphic styles likewise varied, including regular, clerical, seal script, and “Slender Gold” script, among others. Although commonly described as “bronze”, the alloy in practice was typically a ternary mixture of copper, tin, and lead.

物件編號: A3907

年代: 公元 998-1003 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 29.3 x 29.2 x 2.3 mm

重量: 12.75 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是北宋的第三位皇帝宋真宗在位期間，以其頭一個年號所鑄造的「咸平元寶」。宋真宗在位24年間，先後使用過五個年號，「咸平」有天下太平的涵義。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。正面為楷書「咸平元寶」，據稱為宋真宗手提，錢文自上而右旋讀。自宋真宗的父親太宗起，多位宋朝皇帝親自題寫錢幣的書法，這些錢幣被稱作「御書錢」。該「咸平元寶」文字大小及風格近「正字小樣」版別，該版別多出於陝西。但其外輪加綴極寬，厚度加高，邊緣磨圓，因而被藏家稱為「餅錢」，重約原版型的六倍。存有「餅錢」類別的錢幣，除「咸平元寶」外，還有同為真宗鑄錢的「祥符元寶」，皆多出於理應行用鐵錢的川、蜀地區。其外輪大小不一，可堆疊成塔，具體源由史籍無載，也可能代表不同的幣值。因其加寬的外輪極費銅材，當非民間盜鑄取利。錢幕則為四決紋，即錢穿內廓四角向對角線延伸。有些餅錢為四出紋，即延伸線直抵外輪。據稱四決及四出紋，可能為製作餅錢的過程中，將數個作為翻模母錢的錢幣，以金屬釘牢而留下的痕跡，目的在加厚最終的成品。

宋真宗，名趙恆，公元997至1022年在位。即位初年面對北方強鄰遼國的騷擾，最終跟遼國簽訂以金錢換取和平的「澶淵之盟」，開啟宋朝以歲幣先後跟西夏和金國換取和平的先例。

兩宋幣制複雜，正式行用的幣材便有銅鐵兩種，配合紙幣相權。鐵錢的官方廣泛採用為宋代開歷史之先，其因為銅礦的缺乏，以及於邊路防止銅錢外流。白銀則逐漸佔有重要地位。銅幣面額折一至折十不等。各路依需求各自鑄錢，有些只用銅錢，有些只用鐵錢，有些銅鐵兼用。字體則楷書、隸書、篆書、瘦金體等不一而足。幣材則多以青銅為主，實則為銅錫鉛三元合金。