Item number: A4722

Year: 318-260 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 45.7 x 26.7 mm

Weight: 6.2 g

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2026

This is a spade coin (bubi) dating from the late Warring States period, circulated across the realms of the Three Jin and the Two Zhou (the Eastern and Western Zhou domains), encompassing regions corresponding to modern-day Henan and Shanxi provinces. In terms of typological scale, it is classified as a small spade.

The coin is characterised by a flat head, raised shoulders, a flat crotch, square feet, and a straight waist, flaring outwards from the shoulders towards the feet to form a slightly trapezoidal contour, with a raised rim encircling the perimeter. The obverse inscription reads ‘(𡬳阝)shi’. As the character ‘𡬳’ is an archaic variant of ‘受’ (shòu), the legend is also rendered as ‘受阝’ (Shòushi); for commercial convenience within the antiquarian and numismatic collecting market, it is frequently transcribed as ‘授’ (Shòu). Certain scholars propose that ‘𡬳阝’ may be deciphered as ‘泫’ (Xuàn) or ‘端’ (Duān). The reverse is anepigraphic and bounded by a raised rim. Both the obverse and reverse are traversed longitudinally by a central vertical ridge; on the reverse, this median ridge is flanked on either side by an additional lateral line. Since the mid-twentieth century, archaeological specimens of this type have been unearthed across numerous regions, including Beijing, Qi County, Yanggao, and Ruicheng in Shanxi, Baotou and Liangcheng in Inner Mongolia, Lingshou in Hebei, and Zhengzhou in Henan.

In the inaugural year of Duke Lie of Jin (415 BC), Viscount Xian of Zhao fortified the settlement of Xuanshi, marking the historical inception of the toponym Xuanshi. During the Warring States period, strategically positioned at the nexus of the Taihang Route across the Taihang Mountains and the Dan River basin, this locality became a principal focus of military contestation and defensive fortification among the Three Jin states. It was initially held by the state of Han before passing under the dominion of Zhao, whilst certain accounts record intervals of Jin or Wei suzerainty. Towards the late Warring States period, the epochal Battle of Changping—which decisively altered the geopolitical landscape of ancient China—erupted between Qin and Zhao in this vicinity. Following the catastrophic defeat of the Zhao army, the Qin military occupied the entire territory and subsequently established Gaodu County under the jurisdiction of Shangdang Commandery.

The historical genesis of the Three Jin (Han, Zhao, and Wei) lies in the state of Jin, a major power situated along the Fen River basin in Shanxi during the Spring and Autumn period. During the mid-to-late Spring and Autumn period, governance in Jin was progressively usurped by hereditary ministerial aristocratic lineages (qingdafu). Following protracted internal power struggles, the clans of Han, Zhao, and Wei allied in 453 BC to annihilate the rival Zhi clan, precipitating the tripartite partition of the Jin state. They were subsequently granted formal investiture as feudal lords (zhuhou) by the Zhou Son of Heaven—an event commemorated in historiography as the ‘Partition of Jin by the Three Families’ (San Jia Fen Jin)—whilst the reigning Duke of Jin was banished to Duanshi County. Throughout the Warring States period, the Three Jin each occupied distinct territories and pursued divergent paths of statecraft: Han encircled the royal Zhou domain and the Central Plains; Wei pioneered legalist institutional reforms and achieved pre-eminence on both flanks of the Taihang Mountains; and Zhao consolidated its northern frontier defences, instituting the martial policy of adopting nomadic dress and mounted archery (hufu qishe). Although the Three Jin shared common ancestral roots in Jin and adhered to a shared cultural identity centred on the middle reaches of the Yellow River—repeatedly forging vertical alliances (hezong) to counter the eastward encroachment of Qin—persistent territorial disputes and conflicting strategic interests ultimately led to their sequential destruction under Qin military campaigns in the late Warring States period.

Spade money was a form of shovel-shaped metallic currency widely circulated throughout China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Deriving its morphology from agricultural implements, it constitutes the earliest cast coinage in China. It circulated primarily within the Zhou royal demesne and the vassal states of Jin, Zheng, Song, and Wei, amongst others. The earliest issues comprised arched-foot and pointed-foot varieties, whereas numismatists generally maintain that the square-foot spade was first developed by the state of Wei before diffusing to neighbouring realms. States such as Yan, Zhao, and Qin also cast spade coins in imitation of Three Jin prototypes, whether to facilitate inter-state commerce or to secure commercial dominance. In comparison with Jin spade coinage, issues from Yan exhibit a deeper waist constriction at the neck and noticeably cruder casting workmanship. Broadly speaking, the evolutionary morphology of spade coins progressed from hollow heads to flat heads; the shoulders narrowed from broad to slender, transitioning from horizontal and raised forms to drooping and rounded profiles; the feet evolved from arched and pointed varieties to square and rounded terminals; the crotches shifted from curved arches to straight-horizontal lines and acute angles; and the coin fabric developed from thick and heavy to light and thin. The prevalence of spade currency probably waned following the conquest of Wei by Qin, finally disappearing with the imperial monetary standardisation enacted by Qin Shi Huang.

物件編號: A4722

年代: 公元前 318-260 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 45.7 x 26.7 mm

重量: 6.2 g

來源: 福君錢幣 2026

這是一枚戰國時期晚期，流布於三晉、兩周，即今河南、山西等地區的布幣。形制大小屬小型布。

布幣形制平首、聳肩、平襠、方足、直腰，自肩及足向外伸展，略呈梯形，周沿有廓。正面幣文為「（𡬳阝）氏」。「𡬳」為「受」之異體字，故該字也作「受阝」，可能由於方便收藏市場流通，常作「授」。有學者解「（𡬳阝）」字可釋為「泫」、或為「端」。錢背光素，有廓。正反面皆有一條豎紋貫穿；背面除豎紋外，兩側各有一側線。二十世紀中葉以來，於北京、山西祁縣、陽高、芮城、內蒙古、包頭、涼城、河北靈壽、河南鄭州等地皆有出土。

晉烈公元年（公元前415年），趙獻子城泫氏，始有泫氏之稱。戰國時期，該地地處太行山太行道與丹水流域之要衝，先後成為三晉爭奪與防禦的焦點，曾初屬於韓國，後歸屬於趙國。亦有說曾歸晉、魏者。至戰國晚期，秦趙兩國在此爆發決定戰國格局的長平之戰，秦軍大破趙軍後盡據其地，並置高都縣隸屬於上黨郡。

三晉（韓、趙、魏）的歷史源於春秋時期山西汾水流域的強國晉國。春秋中晚期，晉國朝政逐漸由卿大夫世族掌管，經歷長期內部傾軋後，韓氏、趙氏與魏氏於西元前453年聯合消滅智氏，形成三分晉國之局，並獲周天子正式冊封為諸侯，史稱「三家分晉」，並遷晉君于端氏縣。戰國時期，三晉各據一方且發展路徑各有側重：韓國環繞周室與中原，魏國率先變法並強盛於太行山東西兩側，趙國則經營北方邊防並實施胡服騎射。三晉雖同源於晉且共有黃河中游文化圈之認同，亦曾數度聯合發起「合縱」以抵禦西秦東進，然而各國間仍存在領土紛爭與利益矛盾，最終在戰國晚期秦國的攻伐下相繼滅亡。

布幣為流行於中國春秋戰國時期的鏟型貨幣，形狀應源自農具，為中國最早之鑄幣。主要流行於周王畿以及晉、鄭、宋、魏等諸侯國。初為橋足布、尖足部，而學者認為方足布應為由魏國首先發展，再傳布各國。燕、趙、秦等國為便利貿易或搶占市場，亦曾經仿三晉地區鑄行布幣。與晉布幣相較，燕布幣束頸較深，鑄工較粗。總體而言，布幣的發展大致上是由空首到平首，肩部由寬變窄，從平肩、聳肩變為垂肩、圓肩，由橋足、尖足變為方足、圓足，襠部由弧形變為平直、尖角，由厚重變為輕薄。布幣的流行，可能從魏國為秦國攻滅後逐漸減少，至秦始皇統一貨幣後消失。