Item number: A4307

Year: AD 845-846

Material: Bronze

Size: 24.8 x 24.9 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 4.2 g

Manufactured by: Fuzhou (modern-day Minhou County, Fujian Province)

Provenance: Spink 2023

This specimen was minted in AD 845, the fifth year of the Huichang (會昌) era, during the reign of Emperor Wuzong (武宗) of the Tang (唐) Dynasty. It was produced using bronze salvaged from confiscated Buddhist statues and ritual vessels, intentionally cast to emulate the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寶) coinage of the early Tang (唐) period.

The physical form of the coin adheres to the quintessential Chinese design of a circular exterior with a central square hole. On the obverse, the four characters Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寶) are inscribed in clerical script, following a top-bottom-right-left reading order. The calligraphy for the original Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寶) series was famously composed by Ouyang Xun (歐陽詢), a key confidant of Emperor Gaozu (高祖), Li Yuan (李淵). However, as the national strength of the Tang (唐) Dynasty waned in its later years, the execution of the inscriptions became less refined compared to earlier issues. On the upper section of the reverse, there is a somewhat cursively struck character designating the mint authority: the abbreviation Fu (福), representing Fuzhou (福州).

In the fifth year of the Huichang era, Emperor Wuzong issued an edict to suppress Buddhism. Beyond the traditional reverence of the Li-Tang imperial family for Daoism, this policy also aimed to consolidate central authority and revitalise the Tang dynasty. As a result, more than 4,600 Buddhist monasteries were demolished, and approximately 260,500 monks and nuns were forcibly returned to secular life. Additionally, over 40,000 smaller temples and hermitages were dismantled, vast tracts of fertile land were confiscated, and 150,000 enslaved individuals were registered as taxpayers under the liangshui (two-tax) system. The bronze statues, bells, and chimes from these abolished temples were all melted down to mint copper coinage, alleviating the severe shortage of currency. Due to the excessive volume of copper material, the central minting bureau was unable to process it all, leading to the unprecedented decision to allow individual prefectures to establish their own mints. Given the variation in minting facilities and the practise of manually imprinting reverse inscriptions onto clay moulds before they fully dried—resulting in mother moulds that were subsequently used for coin production—the quality of the Huichang Kaiyuan coinage was highly inconsistent. This coinage was in circulation for less than a year before Emperor Wuzong died suddenly. His successor, Emperor Xuanzong, deemed the new coins distinguishable by their inscription and therefore reinstated the previous minting standards, ceasing production of the Huichang coinage entirely. Some scholars speculate that due to the relatively large number of extant specimens, minting may have continued unofficially after the formal prohibition.

The coin shortages of the Tang and Song dynasties—sometimes described as episodes of monetary contraction—originated primarily from insufficient copper ore production and the outflow of high-credit regional currencies due to the Tang’s position as a dominant power. Following the implementation of the Two-Tax Law (liangshui fa), which further monetised the fiscal system, the situation worsened. Additionally, the recurrent melting of coinage for metalware and the persistent issue of private hoarding, despite repeated prohibitions, exacerbated the problem. From the Tang to the Song dynasty, chronic coin shortages remained a major economic challenge for the state.

物件編號: A4307

年代: 公元 845-846 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 24.8 x 24.9 x 1.2 mm

重量: 4.2 g

製造地: 福州 (今福建省閩侯縣)

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚會昌5年 (公元845年)，唐武宗以其沒收的佛教銅像和器皿鎔鑄而成，仿效唐朝初年的「開元通寶」青銅錢。

錢幣形制為中國典型的方孔錢造型。正面按照上、下、右、左的順序，以漢字隸書書法鐫刻「開元通寶」四字。「開元通寶」四字，最早乃由唐高祖李淵的重要心腹歐陽詢題字。不過隨著唐朝後期國力的衰弱，錢幣的文字不如前期精緻。錢幣背面的上方打印稍顯潦草的鑄造單位，即福州的簡稱「福」。

唐武宗會昌5年，下敕滅佛，除李唐皇室向來崇道外，另有以滅佛集權中央，中興唐朝的意圖。結果是「天下所拆寺四千六百餘所，還俗僧尼二十六萬五百人……拆招提、蘭若四萬餘所，收膏腴上田數千萬頃，收奴婢為兩稅戶十五萬人。」廢寺之銅像、鐘磬全數銷熔以鑄銅錢，以緩錢荒。籌集銅料過多，中央之鑄錢監一時難以消化，故允許各州自行置爐鑄錢。因錢爐各異，加以背文多由工人於陶模未乾時手工打印，再翻母範鑄錢，因此極不規範。會昌開元鑄行不及一年，武宗暴崩，宣宗即位，取「新錢以字可辨，復鑄為像。」盡廢會昌錢。有學者猜測，因出土量較大，可能後續仍有鑄造。

唐宋錢荒，或言通貨緊縮，最初源於銅礦產量不足，與做為區域強權高信用貨幣而造成的貨幣外流。在《兩稅法》以降，財政的貨幣化之後，情勢愈惡。加以歷代銷錢為器、私人窖藏屢禁不止。由唐至宋，錢荒皆為國家大患。