Item number: A4061

Reference number: Yan#1106; DCD#190-5

Year: AD 1068-1077

Material: Bronze

Size: 29.8 x 29.8 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 7.45 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This specimen represents the Xining Zhongbao (熙寧重寶), a regnal title coinage cast under Shenzong (神宗), the sixth emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty (北宋). These were issued as “value-two” coins, meaning their denomination was equivalent to two Xining Yuanbao (熙寧元寶) or Xining Tongbao (熙寧通寶) pieces. During his eighteen-year reign from AD 1067 to 1085, Shenzong (神宗) utilised two distinct era names.

The physical morphology of the currency conforms to the traditional round coin with a square central aperture characteristic of the Sinospheric cultural sphere. The obverse features the legend Xining Zhongbao (熙寧重寶) rendered in regular script. The four characters are intended to be read in a clockwise circumscription starting from the top. The calligraphy is notably small in scale, while the inner rim is relatively thick. Specimens of this type are primarily excavated within Shaanxi (陝西). During the Song Dynasty (宋代), the majority of mints in Shaanxi (陝西) were established following the outbreak of the Song-Xia war, specifically from the Qingli (慶曆) era onwards. Other early Song coinage was predominantly produced at the Yongping Mint (永平監) in Raozhou (饒州), the Yongfeng Mint (永豐監) in Chizhou (池州), the Guangning Mint (廣寧監) in Jiangzhou (江州), and the Fengguo Mint (豐國監) in Jianzhou (建州), all of which were situated in the southeast. Additionally, minting operations existed at the Capital Mint (京師鑄錢監), the Baoxing Mint (寶興監) in Hangzhou (杭州), and the Shengzhou Mint (升州錢監), though these functioned on a comparatively smaller scale.

Song Dynasty (宋代) minting employed the sand-casting method, though the precise procedural details remain obscure. Based on the Tiangong Kaiwu (天工開物) authored by Song Yingxing (宋應星) during the Ming Dynasty (明代), it is inferred that craftsmen first hand-carved a master ancestor coin. From this, a specific quantity of mother coins was produced within sand moulds, which ultimately served as the patterns for casting circulation currency. Throughout this iterative process, the mother coins were subjected to compression from the moulding sand, leading to minute abrasion. This gradually influenced the overall dimensions and the clarity of the character troughs, resulting in thickened strokes and a rounded effect at the calligraphic transitions. If a coin originated from private minters who used circulation pieces as mother coins for further sand-casting, the degree of shrinkage and textual blurring would be far more severe. Driven by profit, these private issues were typically thinner and lighter than official circulation currency.

If the moulds were not properly aligned after joining, or if they were subjected to impact, an axis deviation of the design could occur. After breaking the moulds and removing the solidified “money tree,” craftsmen would detach the coins and stack them, passing a bamboo or wooden rod through the central perforations to facilitate collective filing. If the rod was misaligned during this process, it resulted in a “flowered” or “lozenge” perforation. However, if the flowered shape is regular, symmetrical, and possesses distinct rims at each angle, it may have been intentional; some scholars speculate such pieces were utilised for religious ceremonies.

Emperor Shenzong (神宗), Zhao Xu (趙頊), reigned from AD 1067 to 1085. During the Xining (熙寧) era, faced with fiscal deficits and frontier pressures, he drew lessons from the failed Qingli (慶曆) reforms and appointed Wang Anshi (王安石) to implement the New Policies. These reforms aimed to enrich the state and strengthen the military through institutional restructuring. Wang Anshi (王安石) proposed the philosophy of “taking from the people to serve the people,” promoting the Green Sprouts Act, the Market Exchange Act, the Equitable Tax System, and the Land Survey Reform. These measures attempted to expand state intervention in the economy, reform labour services through the Hired Service Act, and enhance agricultural output via water conservancy projects. Additionally, high-denomination fiduciary coins were cast to supplement national expenditure. During the Yuanfeng (元豐) era, the administration re-evaluated previous policies as Wang Anshi (王安石) twice departed from his premiership. Fierce debates between the reformist and conservative factions led to the dilution or abolition of certain decrees. Nevertheless, Shenzong (神宗) remained committed to fiscal expansion and the reorganisation of the legal and bureaucratic systems. Ultimately, before his death, Shenzong (神宗) designated Sima Guang (司馬光) of the conservative faction to assist the government, marking the end of the reforms.

During the Northern and Southern Song periods, the currency operated on a bimetallic copper-iron system with regional circulation zones. Iron coins were primarily circulated in frontier circuits such as Shaanxi (陝西), Guangnan (廣南), Sichuan (四川), and Hedong (河東) to mitigate the domestic shortage of copper, prevent the outflow of copper currency to rival northern regimes like the Western Xia (西夏), Liao (遼), and Jin (金), and provide for local military needs without straining central finances. Due to the excessive weight and inconvenience of iron currency, early paper money such as jiaozi (交子) and huizi (會子) eventually emerged. Calligraphic styles on the coinage included regular, clerical, seal, and slender gold scripts. The simultaneous issuance of multiple scripts began with the Chunhua Yuanbao (淳化元寶) under Emperor Taizong (太宗), while the systematic issuance of “matched coins”—series of identical specification but different calligraphic styles—likely commenced with the Tiansheng Yuanbao (天聖元寶) during the reign of Emperor Renzong (仁宗).

物件編號: A4061

參考書目編號: Yan#1106; DCD#190-5

年代: 公元 1068-1077 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 29.8 x 29.8 x 1.5 mm

重量: 7.45 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是北宋的第六任皇帝神宗，以其第一個年號所鑄造的年號錢「熙寧重寶」，為折二錢，即面額相當於兩枚「熙寧元寶」或「熙寧通寶」。神宗在位期間十八年，先後使用過兩個年號。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「熙寧重寶」楷書。四字由上至右旋讀。字體較小，內廓較粗。主要於陝西出土，宋代陝西錢監多設於宋夏戰爭爆發以後，即慶曆以降。其餘宋初鑄錢多出於饒州永平監、池州永豐監、江州廣寧監、建州豐國監，均位於東南。此外還有京師鑄錢監、杭州寶興監、升州錢監等，規模則較小。

宋代鑄錢採用翻砂法，但具體工藝流程不詳。參考明代宋應星所撰《天工開物》，應為工匠手刻製作雕母后，再於砂模中翻製出一定數量的母錢，最後再以這些母錢鑄造出行用錢。在不斷翻鑄的過程中，母錢會受到砂模中型砂的擠壓，從而有微小的磨損。從而逐漸影響尺寸的大小和字口的清晰程度，形成筆劃變粗，字口轉折處變圓的效果。若是錢幣來自以行用錢為母錢再翻砂鑄造的私鑄者，錢幣縮水及文字模糊的程度會更加嚴重，由於私鑄者為追求利益，私鑄錢幣往往較行用錢更加輕薄。

合範後若未妥善對齊，或是遭撞擊等，可能會導致圖樣的偏軸。破開錢範取出已凝固的銅錢樹後，工匠會將錢幣一一摘斷並相疊，以竹木條貫穿中央，以利於一併磨銼。若貫穿時位置不正，即會出現花穿或菱穿現象。但若花穿形狀規整、對稱，穿邊各折線均有廓，則可能為有意造成，一些學者猜測用於宗教相關的儀式。

宋神宗趙頊，公元1067-1085在位，熙寧年間，面對財政困難與邊患壓力，汲取慶曆變法失敗的教訓，任用王安石推行新政，意圖透過制度改革實現富國強兵。王安石提出「取之於民，用之於民」的理念，推動青苗法、市易法、均輸法與方田均稅法，嘗試擴大國家對經濟的介入與主導，並以募役法改革勞役制度、提倡水利興修以提升農產，形成一套以政府主導的經濟重整方案。並鑄虛值大錢以補國用不足。在元豐年間，神宗朝重新檢討先前變法政策，王安石亦兩度離相，改革派與守舊派激烈爭論，導致部分法令遭到削弱或廢止。然而，神宗仍致力於擴充財政、整頓法制與官僚體系，並支持新儒學與經世致用之學，以培養能應變時局之人才。最終宋神宗病逝前指定舊黨司馬光輔政，標誌著改革的結束。

兩宋時期的錢幣採銅-鐵二元制，區分行用區域，各自流通。鐵錢多行用於陝西、廣南、四川、河東等邊境諸路或前線區域，時有更動，少數地區銅鐵並行。之所以如此，一來是國內的銅礦資源缺乏；二來是防止銅錢流入競爭對手，諸如西夏、遼和金等北方政權；三為就地供給軍需，以免拖垮中央財政。使得兩宋朝廷先是鑄造鐵錢，後更因鐵錢質重，攜帶不便，出現紙幣雛形的「交子、會子」作為貨幣。錢幣字體則楷書、隸書、篆書、瘦金體等不一而足。首度同時發行多書體錢幣，自太宗淳化元寶始，而首度發行對錢，即形制相仿但書體不同的系列錢幣，大概自仁宗天聖元寶始。