Item number: A3909

Year: AD 998-1003

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.5 x 23.6 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 3.0 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”.

In form, the coin follows the East Asian Sinosphere tradition of a round cash coin with a square central hole, and it is of relatively small diameter. The obverse bears the regular-script inscription “咸平元寶” (Xianping Yuanbao), reportedly written in the emperor’s own hand, with the legend read from top to right in clockwise order. From the reign of Emperor Taizong, Zhenzong’s father, several Song emperors personally inscribed coin calligraphy; such issues are termed “imperial calligraphy coins” (yushu qian). This variety is most commonly found in Shaanxi. The characters are comparatively thick, possibly due to wear on the mother coin during the reminting process. The reverse field is plain and uninscribed.

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: A3909

年代: 公元 998-1003 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.5 x 23.6 x 0.7 mm

重量: 3.0 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。幣徑較小。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」。該版別多出於陝西。字體較粗，可能源於母錢在翻鑄過程中的磨損。錢幕光素無文。

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。