| Lead cash coins | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_-_Southern_Han_Kingdom_-_Scott_Semans.jpg) A crude lead Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) cash coin produced during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, attributed either to the Southern Han or the Southern Chu Kingdom. | |||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鉛錢 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 铅钱 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Duyên tiền | ||||||
| Chữ Hán | 鉛錢 | ||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||
| Kana | なまりせん | ||||||
| Kyūjitai | 鉛錢 | ||||||
| Shinjitai | 鉛銭 | ||||||
| |||||||
Lead cash coins (traditional Chinese: 鉛錢; simplified Chinese: 铅钱; pinyin: qiān qián; Vietnamese: Duyên tiền;[a] Japanese: 鉛銭 (なまりせん); Rōmaji: Namarisen) are a type of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cash coin that were produced at various times during the monetary history of imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam. Typically cash coins produced in China between 300 BC and 1505 AD were made of bronze and those produced after 1505 AD were made of brass.[1] But, like with iron cash coins, at times when copper was scarce government authorities would produce lead cash coins to supplement the money supply and maintain market liquidity.
The production of lead cash coins predominantly happened in regions where large quantities of lead were mined, namely southern China and the Tōhoku region in northern Honshu.
China is the first country in the world to issue lead coins, though when the first lead coins were produced remains controversial as it is commonly believed that the first lead coins in the world were the small Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) cash coins produced during the reign of King Wang Shenzhi of the Min Kingdom (Fujian) in 916.[2] However, some claim that the production of lead coins was actually started a millennium earlier during the Zhou dynasty period.[2] It is therefore taken that 916 is the earliest use of lead for the regular production of cash coins, while the lead Yi Hua (一化) coins from the State of Yan, ant-nose money from the State of Chu, and Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins dating from the Qin to the Western Han dynasties are in fact irregular uses.[2][3][4]
Lead cash coins were also produced in what is today Indonesia by groups of Overseas Chinese living in the archipelago.[5] The production of lead cash coins in Indonesia happened alongside tin and copper-alloy cash coins.[6]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Hartill 2005, p. ii.
- ^ a b c Song Shan (嵩山) – Casting lead money begins with swallows (以铅铸钱始于燕) – "China Numismatics", Issue 1, 1990 (《中国钱币》1990年 第1期 – 55–57页 共4页). Quote: "我国是最早以铅铸钱的国家,这己为人们所公认。" (China is the first country to cast money with lead, which has been recognised by people.).
- ^ Ye Weiqi (叶伟奇) - Lead Ban Liang cash coin (铅质半两钱) - "China Collection", Issue 11, 2006 (《中国收藏》2006年 第11期: 132-132页 共1页). - Fujian (福建). Quote: "最近，笔者从安徽泉友处交换得一枚未见载录的铅质半两钱，该钱直径28.5毫米，穿径8.5毫米，厚度0.8毫米，重1.57克，钱币正面篆书“半两”二字，分列钱穿右左，钱背无文，通体灰黑色兼有蓝黄色锈，上还留有薄层土锈。".
- ^ Gan Shuguang (甘曙光) - Newly discovered Qin Dynasty lead "Ban Liang" cash coins in Guangzhou (广州新发现秦代铅质大型 “半两” 钱). - Collection, 106, 2007 (收藏界, 106, 2007).
- ^ Yi Zhongting (易仲廷) and Yao Shuomin (姚朔民) – Rare indonesian lead cash coins (罕见的印度尼西亚铅钱) – "Chinese Numismatics", Issue 4, 1990 (《中国钱币》1990年 第4期: 63–48页 共3页).
- ^ De Munten van Nederlandsch Indië, by Netscher and Van der Chijs Batavia, Dutch East Indies – 1863) (in Dutch).