Item number: A176

Year: 403-221 BC

Material: Slate

Size: 152.0 x 85.0 mm / thick: 15.0 mm

Weight: 421.55 g

Provenance: Heritage Auctions 2023

The object is a plaque-shaped half-liang stone mould, which is a coin mould of the half-liang coin from the Warring States period(403 BC- 221 BC), with slate as its base material. The obverse of the mould is engraved with double-sided half-liang coin patterns, totalling four sets.

The scale of commercial activities began to expand in the Spring and Autumn period and flourished during the Warring States period. Along with the active commerce, various states successively minted bronze currency. Some scholars argue that around the middle and later periods of the Spring and Autumn period, various states officially minted bronze coins. The earliest documented record regarding coinage is found in the “Guoyu: Zhouyu Xia(國語．周語下)”: “In the twenty-first year of King Jing’s reign, he planned to mint large coins.”

During the Warring States period, currency artefacts had been unearthed in various regions of the Central Plains, with the quantity of excavated currency artefacts being quite astonishing. More than four thousand pieces of the Yan State’s Ming knives were unearthed in Fushun, Liaoning, weighing over one hundred kilogrammes; in Chengde, Hebei, more than four thousand five hundred pieces of bundled Ming knives were discovered in a jar. The Qi State used the stacking casting method to mint knife coins, which indeed illustrates the reality of the widespread use of currency during the Warring States period.

Bronze currency of the Warring States period could generally be categorised into four types: spade coins, which resembled agricultural spades and might have evolved from the transformation of agricultural tools into commodities, with various forms including open head, round shoulder, square shoulder, round foot, pointed foot, and others, prevalent in the states of the Three Jin(晉); knife coins, which resembled knives and might have originated from tool knives, popular in regions such as Qi(齊), Yan(燕), and Zhao(趙); Qi’s knife coins were relatively large with pointed tips, while Yan and Zhao’s knife coins were smaller with square or round heads; round coins, which came in two varieties of round and square holes, with square-hole round coins appearing later, widespread in the states along both banks of the Yellow River within the Eastern Zhou(東周), Western Zhou(西周), Qin(秦), Zhao(趙), and Wei(魏); bronze shells or ant nose coins, which resembled shells and evolved from the shape of ancient shells, serving as the currency prevalent in the state of Chu(楚).

During the Warring States period, with the advancement of industry and commerce, there was a significant increase in the demand for currency. In order to meet the growing need for large-scale currency supply, in addition to the primary gypsum moulds, stone moulds, and sand moulds, bronze moulds were also invented. However, in the field of coin casting production, the primary metal moulds used were still bronze moulds, and they were only used for coin casting.

The term “money mould(錢範)” referred to various moulds and templates used in the casting of coins, which can be divided into three categories: ancestral moulds, model moulds, and casting moulds, each representing different stages of the production process. The “ancestral mould” was the first step in making moulds, usually made of materials such as wood, stone, or clay that are easy to carve, with the inscriptions in a reverse seal script form. The “model mould” was cast or made from the ancestral mould, and can be made of materials such as copper, clay, or lead, with the inscriptions in a regular seal script form. The “casting mould” referred to the mould directly used for casting coins, which could be directly carved or cast from the model mould, and could be made of materials such as stone, clay, or copper, with the inscriptions in a reverse seal script form.

Although historical records did not explicitly describe the morphological characteristics of the half-liang coins during the Warring States period, the “Treatise on the Balanced Standard(平準書)” in the “Records of the Grand Historian(史記)” mentioned that “copper coins known as half-liang are recognised by their weight matching their inscriptions.” From this, it could be inferred that early half-liang coin was a type of weight-based currency, with “half-liang” referring to the weight of the coin, 7.9g.

According to “Discussion on classification of Ban Liang Coin,” Warring States half-liang coins could be classified into five types: crude type, overweight type, regular type, cake type, and small privately minted type. The crude type was relatively common and exhibited typical characteristics, but their diameter, thickness, weight, and inscriptions lack uniform standards, with rough casting reflecting the unrestrained style of early half-liang coins. The overweight type refered to coins that are thicker and heavier, far exceeding the weight standard of twelve qian established during the Qin dynasty. The regular type refered to coins with standardised body, uniform thickness, and similar diameters on the obverse and reverse sides, exhibiting a relatively standardised morphology and representing a higher proportion among pre-Qin half-liang coins. The cake-type was a particularly unique type with scarce surviving specimens, mostly privately minted, exhibiting irregular morphology, non-standard inscriptions, and extremely uneven weights. The small privately minted type was characterised by non-standardised production, with small diameters, uneven weights, variable character forms, and low levels of standardisation.

物件編號: A176

年代: 公元前 403-221 年

材料: 石

尺寸: 152.0 x 85.0 mm / thick: 15.0 mm

重量: 421.55 g

來源: 海瑞德拍賣行 2023

本物品為牌匾狀半兩鑄石模，是戰國時期的半兩錢範，以青石為基底。錢範正面刻有雙面的半兩硬幣模具，共四組半。

春秋時期商業活動的規模始開始擴大，於戰國時期盛行。各國也隨着商業的活躍，先後鑄造了青銅貨幣。有的學者主張春秋中期前後，各國正式鑄造銅幣。文獻上關於鑄錢的最早記載見於《國語：周語下》：「景王二十一年，將鑄大錢」。

戰國時代的貨幣，中原各地都有出土，出士貨幣的數量相當的驚人。燕國的明刀在遼寧撫順出士了四千多枚，重達一百公斤；熱河承德地區一次在甕內就發現了成捆明刀達四千五百多枚。齊國用疊鑄法來鑄造刀幣，正是說明戰國時代大量使用貨幣這件事實的眞象。

戰國時代的靑銅貨幣大致可分四類——鏟布，形狀像農具中的鏟，可能是由於農具成爲商品交換發展過程轉化而來，多種形式，包括空首布、圓肩、方肩、圓足、尖足等等；流行於三晉；刀貨，形狀像刀，可能是從工具刀轉化而成，流行於齊、燕、趙等地區；齊國的刀貨較大，尖頭；而燕、趙刀貨較小，方頭或圓頭；圓錢，內孔有圓和方兩種，方孔的圓錢出現的較晚，流行於東周、西周、秦、趙、魏等國沿黃河兩岸；銅貝或蟻鼻錢，形狀像貝，從古代貝的形狀演變而來，是楚國通行的貨幣。

戰國時代工商業發達，貨幣的需求量大增，爲了大量供應貨幣的需要，除了主要石膏範和石範、沙範外，又發明了銅範。不過，在鑄幣生產領域所使用的金屬範主要仍是銅範，并僅用於鑄錢。

錢範是鑄造錢幣時的各種模具和範本的總稱，分為祖範、範模和鑄範三類，分別代表了製作過程中的不同階段。「祖範」是製作模具的第一步，通常使用木材、石材或泥坯等易於雕刻的材料，上面的文字呈現陰文反書的形式；「範模」是由祖範鑄造或製作而成，材質可以是銅、泥、鉛等，上面的文字呈現陽文正書的形式；「鑄範」則是指直接用來鑄造錢幣的模具，可以直接雕刻，或者是由範模鑄造而成，材質可以是石頭、泥土、銅等，上面的文字呈現陰文反書的形式。

雖然史料中並沒有明確記載戰國時期半兩錢的形制特徵，但《史記．平準書》中提到「銅錢識曰半兩，重如其文」。由此可見，早期的半兩錢是一種紀重貨幣，而「半兩」指的是錢幣的重量。根據《中國歷代度量衡考》，一兩等於二十四誅，半兩等於十二誅，約為7.9克。

《半兩錢分型研究》將戰國半兩分為五型：粗放型、超重型、規整型、餅型和私鑄小型。粗放型戰國半兩錢是比較常見且具有典型特徵的一類錢幣，但其錢徑、穿徑、重量和文字均缺乏統一的標準，鑄造比較粗糙，反映了早期半兩錢的放逸之風。超重型戰國半兩則是指錢體較厚重，遠超過秦制十二卜的一類錢幣。規整型戰國半兩則是指錢體規範、薄厚均勻、面穿徑與背穿徑大小基本一致，整體形制較為規整，是先秦半兩中所佔比例較高的一種。餅型半兩錢則是一種形制非常特殊的半兩錢，存世量稀少，多為私鑄，形制不規整，文字符合標準，且重量極其不均。私鑄小型半兩錢則是一種不合標準的私鑄錢幣，錢徑小，重量不均，字形多變，標準化程度低。