Item number: A3950

Reference number: DCD#51-5

Year: AD 1008-1016

Material: Bronze

Size: 21.9 x 21.6 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 2.05 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a reign-title coin cast during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song, deriving its name from the reign title Dazhong Xiangfu.

The coin is a traditional square-holed round cash coin of the Sinographic cultural sphere. Both obverse and reverse bear inner and outer rims. The obverse inscription reads Xiangfu Yuanbao in regular script, the four characters being read in sequence from the top and then clockwise. In the character fu, the upper component resembles fu (苻), while the horizontal stroke in the cun component is broken. The character yuan is relatively elongated in width. The straight lines of the square central hole are curved, giving it a slightly rounded appearance. The variety is close to the so-called “broad-yuan small-sample” type, though the calligraphy differs slightly; compared with that small-sample type, this specimen is even smaller, lighter, and thinner, and is therefore suspected to be a privately cast issue. The edges of the rims are indistinct and nearly level with the field. The reverse is plain, without pattern or inscription.

Emperor Zhenzong, personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty and a son of Emperor Taizong, Zhao Jiong. He ascended the throne in the 3rd year of the Zhidao reign, in AD 997, and remained in power until the 1st year of the Qianxing reign, in AD 1022, ruling for a total of twenty-five years. During his reign, he successively employed the reign titles Xianping, Jingde, Dazhong Xiangfu, Tianxi, and Qianxing. In the early part of his reign, Emperor Zhenzong largely inherited the political foundations established under Emperor Taizong. In governance, he attached importance to civil administration and continued the Song policy of esteeming Confucian learning and according privileged treatment to the scholar-official elite. During the first half of his reign, relations between the Northern Song and the Liao remained tense. In the 1st year of Jingde, in AD 1004, Liao forces advanced southward, and, at the forceful urging of the grand councillor Kou Zhun, Zhenzong personally went to Chanzhou to direct the defence. This ultimately led to the conclusion of the Chanyuan Covenant with the Liao, after which Song–Liao relations remained broadly peaceful for an extended period. Although this agreement secured peace through the payment of annual tribute, thereby bringing relative stability to the Northern Song’s northern frontier, Zhenzong gradually came to regard it as detrimental. In the middle and later years of his reign, he placed increasing emphasis on auspicious omens, the feng and shan sacrifices, and extraordinary signs associated with Daoism. Particularly during the Dazhong Xiangfu period, he repeatedly proclaimed the descent of heavenly texts, held grand ceremonial visits and related observances, and carried out the last fengshan sacrifice in Chinese history. After Zhenzong’s death, his son Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne as Emperor Renzong.

The monetary system of the Northern and Southern Song was highly complex. Among officially circulating currencies, there were both bronze and iron coins, used alongside paper money in a mutually supplementary relationship. Silver also gradually assumed increasing importance. The face values of bronze coins ranged from one to ten cash equivalents. Coinage was cast separately in the various circuits according to local needs: some regions used only bronze coins, some only iron coins, and others employed both. The scripts used on the coin inscriptions were likewise varied, including regular script, clerical script, seal script, and Slender Gold script.

物件編號: A3950

參考書目編號: DCD#51-5

年代: 公元 1008-1016 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 21.9 x 21.6 x 0.7 mm

重量: 2.05 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚鑄造於北宋真宗時期的年號錢，取年號「大中祥符」而得名。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。正背面均有內外廓，正面錢文為楷書「祥符元寶」，四字自上而右旋讀。「符」字近「苻」，「寸」旁橫劃斷筆；「元」字字寬較長。方穿直線彎曲，微呈圓形。版式近「闊元小樣」，但字體微有差異，且與小樣想比，更加小而輕薄，疑為私鑄。輪廓稜角不明顯，近乎平夷。背面光素，無圖案、文字。

宋真宗趙恆，為宋朝第三位皇帝，宋太宗趙炅之子，於至道三年(公元997年)即位，在位至乾興元年(公元1022年)，共二十五年。其在位期間先後使用咸平、景德、大中祥符、天禧、乾興五個年號。宋真宗即位初期，大體承繼太宗以來的統治基礎，政治上重視文治，延續宋代崇尚儒學、優禮士大夫的國策。其統治前期，北宋與遼朝關係緊張，至景德元年(公元1004年)遼軍南下，真宗於宰相寇準力請下親至澶州督戰，最終與遼訂立「澶淵之盟」，此後宋遼大致維持長期和平局面。此盟雖以歲幣換取和平，然亦使北宋北境得以相對安定，但真宗逐漸視其為害。真宗朝中後期，日益重視符瑞、封禪與道教祥異之說。尤其大中祥符年間，多次宣稱天書降臨，舉行朝謁等盛典，並進行中國歷史上最後一次封禪。真宗逝後，其子趙禎即位，是為宋仁宗。

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。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。