Introduction to ancient coin collection
1、? Face, back, curtains, clothes, sides, meat
In ancient times, the front of money was called face, which was generally cast with characters, called face writing or Qian Wen. The vertical lines on the surface are called vertical lines and the horizontal lines are called horizontal lines. The back of money is called back for short, and there is a word on the back called back. If there are neither words nor patterns, it is called a bare back, and generally a money back is called a curtain. The square hole or round hole of money can be called through, and it can also be called a good letter. A big hole is called a wide hole, and a small hole is called a narrow hole. Money worn outside is called meat. The outer edge of the meat is called the edge, or side; The inner edge forming the boundary is called the inner profile, or the good profile or the functional profile; Thin inner contour is called thin contour, and very thin contour is called thin contour. Before the Han dynasty, the back of a round coin had no inner and outer profiles, so we called it a flat back. From the time when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty minted five baht coins, coins had inner and outer profiles. Double profiles are called heavy wheels or heavy profiles; Double section is called heavy hole or re-penetration. The inner profile is lower than the outer profile, so we call it the yin profile.
2. Qian Wen and the ancient monetary form.
Qian Wen is words cast on banknotes. Qian Wen's reading from the top, right, bottom and left directions is called back reading or rotating reading, while Qian Wen's reading from top to bottom and right to left is called direct reading or sequential reading. Qian Wen's calligraphy styles include seal script, official script, original script, cursive script, running script, Shoujin style and Song style. Even with the same font, the techniques are varied. Shape is the casting technology, material and modeling structure of ancient money. Coins in each era have their own characteristics, and it is necessary to stipulate the differences between coins in previous dynasties. For example, some square-hole round coins have profiles, while others have no profiles; Some have large perforations and some have small perforations; Qian Wen has some direct reading and some rotating reading. Therefore, the coins of each era have formed their own unique style, and this method is also very scientific in identifying the authenticity of ancient coins. In order to make Qian Wen not easy to wear, Xiangqi's knife cloth casts the outline of the coin very high, and there is a high point in the back middle. Without these characteristics, it should be judged as a fake. Even the knife coins in the same currency system have changed because of the time sequence. This requires coin lovers to memorize the characters and characteristics of the times that often appear in Qian Wen, so as not to be taken in by counterfeit money.
3. Carved Mom and Iron Mom
The carved mother is also called Zuqian. Carve monetary model directly with copper blocks or tin and lead blocks. When casting money, use the ancestral money as a mold and turn the mother money over. These mother coins are distributed to various places, and model coins are made from mother coins. The carving of ancestral coins is very fine. At present, all the carved mothers are golden yellow copper, which is an excellent copper material. Qian Wen, the mother of bronze sculptures, is exquisite and eloquent. The engraved mother money has no trace of knife marks, which is slightly larger and heavier than the money circulating in the same edition. Carved mother coins are made into money molds to take away. Craftsmen cast them in money molds with molten copper. After the coins are cooled, the mold is opened and the coins are taken out for processing and polishing.
During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development of metallurgical technology and mining technology promoted the development of mint industry. Brass coins became popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Brass is a copper-zinc alloy. When I used to identify the copper content of coins, I always threw them on the ground and listened to the sound of fineness. Copper coins with high fineness were thrown on the ground, making a golden sound. In addition to brass, there are white copper coins, which is due to the large proportion of tin in copper-tin alloy. Another kind of white copper coin is nickel copper.
Carved mother money is bigger than mother money and circulating money, mother money is slightly bigger than circulating money, and copper is also better. Just because the mother money is cast from the sand of ancestral money, the outline and mouth of the money are not as deep as the carved mother, and are worse than the carved mother in all aspects. Besides copper, mother money is also made of iron. Iron mother money made of iron is bigger and heavier than copper money of the same level. Ancient coin lovers should distinguish between iron mother and iron mold copper coins. Iron mother money is to turn out the sand for casting iron coins to make mother money, and then cast it into currency, which is actually just different from copper coins. Before casting a large number of cast iron coins, the iron mold copper coins are poured with molten copper to test the effect of the money mold, so these copper coins are called trial casting, which is exactly the same as cast iron coins. This kind of money rarely circulates.
Whether making coins or categories, it is a manual production mode, which leads to uneven quality of coins and high casting cost. The copper coins of the past dynasties in China often made mistakes in the form and flow direction of copper, which made the coins irregular and beautiful and quite different in weight and color. Even the money cast in the same furnace is not necessarily the same in weight, and the color is more difficult to distinguish. A revolution in the history of coinage in China was the use of machines to make coins in the Qing Dynasty. The newly minted copper coins are neat and exquisite, which are well received by the people and the government has benefited a lot.
4. Raw cellar products and cooked cellar products
Unearthed rusty ancient coins are called raw pits, so they are called new pits soon after being unearthed; Unearthed for a long time, it is still called Laoshengkeng or cooked pit with rust residue. And fakes. Later generations forged the ancient money of the previous generation. We mainly observe the words and rust color of money to identify the authenticity of money. Because most of the characters on coins are written by famous artists, and the words learned by forgers are tangible and godless, sometimes the shapes of characters and coins are different, although the bronze rust is true and the coins are fake. Copper is a relatively stable metal, and it is not easy to rust under normal temperature and humidity. After hundreds or even thousands of years, the surface of coins has undergone chemical changes, resulting in copper rust, which will not fall off. The rust of some counterfeit products is specially treated and decorated. Although it is very realistic, it will fall off after soaking in boiling water.
5. Bao Tong, Yuanbao and Chongbao
Bao Tong was the name of the copper coin in China from the Tang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. In Wude, Tang Gaozu, Bao Tong was cast in the fourth year of Kaiyuan. Kaiyuan means to open a new era, which has been used to future generations and has always existed. Bao Tong? The word is preceded by the year number, dynasty or country name. From the Tang Dynasty, money was no longer named after weight, but changed to treasure. Like what? Datang Bao Tong? Tang Bao? 、? Taiping Bao Tong? 、? Yongle Bao Tong? 、? Kangxi Bao Tong? Wait a minute. Money called treasure has social significance, that is, the power of money has increased.
Experts summed up the coins of past dynasties, which Qian Wen called Bao Tong? Song and Yuan Dynasties, Taiping, Tianxi, Huangsong, He Zhi, Jiayou, Zhiping, Xining, Yuanfeng, Yuan You, Fu Yuan, Jianguo, Shengsong, Chongning, Daguan, Zhenghe, Zhonghe, Xuanhe, Jingkang? Wait a minute. ? Yuanbao? This name was first used for "Deyi Yuanbao" and "Deyi Yuanbao" cast by Shi Siming in Luoyang. Shuntian ingot? . Shuntian Yuanbao was restructured from German and Italian Yuanbao. These two currencies can be said to be a professional currency. Dali ingots were cast in Dali period, and the production was not refined. At that time, the price of money was very low, but the price of copper was very high. So the official casting is not excellent. Later, there were Tianfu Yuanbao, Chunhua Yuanbao, Shengsong Yuanbao, Xuanhe Yuanbao and Jingkang Yuanbao. ? Heavy treasure? It is also a name for copper coins, which was first used in the first year of Tang, Gan and Yuan Dynasties? Dry Yuan Chongbao? . There are two legal rules for dry yuan money: one is to treat dry yuan as ten yuan; The other is when fifty yuan is a heavy treasure. This kind of money has a double circle on the back, so it is called heavy yuan money. There are many dried ingots handed down, especially Xiaoping money, which is second only to Kaiyuan money. North Korea once cast dry yuan heavy treasure, which is on the back? Dong Guo? This is the earliest coin in North Korea. Dry yuan money has a bare back, a hanging back or a bird or a cloud, and a cloud to wear. There will be Nanhan in the future? Qian heng pet treasure? , the northern song dynasty? Li Qing Chongbao? ,? Is Chongning a treasure? , green? Xianfeng heavy treasure? 、? Guangxu worships treasure? Wait a minute.
6. Mark coins, ant nose coins and grimace coins
Mark coins, that is, coins with special marks on the front and back. For example, there are stars and the moon on the back of money. Like a dried gold ingot, it has the value of Ruique pattern, 990 yuan. There are two kinds of Jin Yuanbao in Song Xianchun: Xiaoping and Zheer. The characters on the back are from yuan to eight characters, indicating the age of coinage. In the eighth year of Xianchun, it was the last time that coins were minted in the Song Dynasty, and no coins were minted in about nine or ten years. Later, the former young emperor, Duan Zong and the later young emperor did not coin money. In his early days, Zhu Yuanzhang minted various large, medium and large coins, namely Xiaoping, Fold 2, Fold 3, Fold 5, Dang 5 and Dang 10, and set up Baoquan Bureau in various provinces. This time, the names of the provinces are on the back of the coin, including Beiping, Henan, Jinan, Beijing, Zhejiang, Fuzhou, Hubei and Guangxi. And most coins have only the bureau name on the back. Anyone who finds three or more ancient coins with the words Beiping, Hubei, Beijing and Guangxi on the back should pay attention to identification. Each real coin is worth more than 1000 yuan, which is a treasure.
The so-called ant nose money is the advanced form of copper shell. Numerologists believe that ant nose money is the currency of Chu, because most of it is unearthed in the south, and the writing is negative language, which is different from the currency of Central Plains. The shape of ant nose money is convex on the front and flat on the back. According to the words on the money, it can be divided into many kinds. The most common is the so-called face money, because this kind of money is oval with inscriptions on it, which really looks like a human face. Followed by six Zhu's, because the above words seem to be the connection of six words, and at the same time, like an ant, plus the face on the high nose, so there is the name ant nose money. These two kinds of money are the most common.
What other ant nose money, that is, the bronze bell inscription? All of them? There are few words. After liberation, ant nose money was found in Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu and southern Shandong. Ordinary nose money has been handed down from generation to generation, and there are almost no fakes, but few unearthed ones? All of them? Word money, you should pay attention to whether there are any false traces.
7、? Xiaoping? 、? Fold?
Xiaoping: the title of the size of square hole money in ancient times. The coins of the Song Dynasty shall prevail. Since the Song Dynasty, the shapes of ancient Chinese coins tend to be complicated. In order to distinguish the size of money, numerologists divided the money in Song Dynasty into Xiaoping, Discount 2, Discount 3, Discount 5 and Discount 15. Generally, the diameter is about 2.4cm and the weight is about 3-4g. Other generations of square hole money are compared with the shape of Song money. Money in the Song Dynasty is uneven in shape because of its casting time, wide casting area and the same shape, so it can't stick to its diameter and weight. Discount: The economic value of metal coins can be divided into marked and unmarked. If you don't indicate the number of folds, you have to rely on your own senses or conventions.
8、? Brother Kong Fang? The origin of
Western Jin Dynasty? Lu Bao wrote "On the God of Wealth" to satirize the current disadvantages and put forward that money should be the big brother. Kong Fang? Everyone loves him like a brother. This is what Lu Bao said to corrupt officials, literati and ordinary people at that time. Shame on money? A kind of banter and irony. Later generations? Brother Kong Fang? This is called money. Province name? Kong Fang? 、? Brother Kong? .
9. Ancient monetary science
The study of ancient money is a branch of epigraphy. Taking historical currency as the research object, through the research on the shape, material, characters, patterns, unearthed place, time, quantity and cellar way of currency, combined with historical materials, this paper explores the law of currency's emergence, development and evolution, as well as its economic, social and political system, production technology and other issues.
10, silver coins of past dynasties
In the history of China, gold and silver have been regarded as the source, storage and exchange of wealth since they were discovered and used by human beings. Whether the early silver bullion was used as currency like the early copper bullion remains to be proved by further unearthed data. Silver cloth in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is the earliest currency in China. After that, silver coins with different systems, different names and different uses were cast in various dynasties. But it is mainly used for large reward, burial and sacrifice. The period of real folk use as the main currency is not long. It is difficult to see other silver coins except silver coins and ingots. In addition to the small amount of casting itself, Chinese women have long loved silver ornaments, so selling them in large quantities is also a reason that cannot be ignored. Apart from being issued by the state, many silver coins in China are issued by local governments, even silver shops, banks and independent casting. It is also a major feature of Chinese silver coins to maintain credit according to their status and weight of precious metals. For example, there are nearly 2,000 kinds of silver ingots recorded in China, most of which are issued locally. Relatively speaking, the silver mechanism currency is mainly controlled and issued by the state. In addition to the value of precious metals, the price is completely valued according to the face value marked on this account as currency, which is the silver standard. Although silver coins have high credit, they are used in commercial and folk music, but because of their precious metals, limited sources, inability to cast in large quantities, heavy benzene and other reasons, they can finally occupy the position of the main currency for a long time.
Collection and appreciation methods of ancient coins
According to the rarity of all kinds of coins and the current market situation of coin collection, Mr. Ma Dingxiang, a contemporary collector of ancient coins, divides ancient coins into ten grades, namely, the first grade is rare, the second grade is rare, the third grade is rare, the fourth grade is rare, the fifth grade is rare, the sixth grade is rare, the seventh grade is rare, the eighth grade is rare, the ninth grade is more, and the tenth grade is more extensive. In 1983, Mr. Ma Dingxiang wrote the book "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Coins", and it was first proposed to evaluate coins according to their preciousness. Ten-level system? .
Ancient coins are divided into one to ten grades according to their rarity, and each grade can be subdivided into three grades: upper, middle and lower. Fifty Jane? (The 50 most precious ancient coins recognized by the industry) are among the best, such as those from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty? Three holes of cloth? When, Wang Mang? Zhuang Quan is forty? , Song Dynasty? Founding Bao Tong? , the Qing dynasty? Bao Tong in heaven? And so on, almost all the prices are above tens of thousands of yuan.
Rare ancient coins
The special edition of rare ancient coins means that the same kind of money often has its own characteristics due to different times of coinage, even including ancient coins with special marks due to engraving mistakes. Collectors generally like to pursue some special and rare versions, but the versions that can be seen everywhere are not favored and the prices in the market are very low. The five baht circulating in the Western Han Dynasty is an ordinary and obvious ancient money. If it is not a special shape, it often can't sell at a high price. However, if it is deformation and overlap caused by carving and casting errors, it can be sold at a high price. The Qing Dynasty is the closest, but not all Qing money is worthless, and some special editions of Qing money with little casting are also rare.
Ancient coin investment collection