Item number: A1130

Year: AD 1309

The results after XRF testing

Material: Bronze

Size: 40.9 x 40.4 x 3.4 mm

Weight: 26.7 g 

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a coin from the Yuan Dynasty. The obverse side of the coin is unique, featuring the official script of the Yuan Dynasty—Phagspa. The four characters, read from top to bottom and right to left, translate to “Da Yuan Tongbao; the reverse side of the coin is blank. Notably, it is not a reign title coin.

Phagspa script was designed based on Tibetan characters by Phagspa, a lama of the Sakya school from Tibet, who was appointed by Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Phagspa script became the official script of the Yuan Dynasty.

The earliest known Phagspa script copper coins from the Yuan Dynasty are the Zhi Yuan Tongbao from the reign of Kublai Khan.

These coins are rarely found because Yuan Dynasty currency primarily consisted of paper money (Jiaochao, Baochao, etc.) with Chinese characters. Therefore, the quantity of copper coins minted by the official authorities was much smaller compared to other dynasties.

Historical records indicate that the officially issued copper coins were only Zhi Da Tongbao, Da Yuan Tongbao from the reign of Emperor Wuzong, and Zhi Zheng Tongbao from the reign of Yuan Emperor Shundi.

The reign of Emperor Wuzong was a very important period for the minting and issuance of copper coins in the Yuan Dynasty, closely tied to the reforms he implemented.

Wuzong undertook two particularly notable actions: the construction of Yuan Zhongdu and the establishment of the Shangshu Province to reform the government administration.

Additionally, he reformed the currency system by issuing Zhi Da silver notes and concurrently circulating copper coins. He decreed that copper coins from various dynasties should be used alongside the Zhi Da coins, meaning both paper money and copper coins were to be circulated together.

This was the first large-scale and officially implemented currency reform in Yuan Dynasty history, leading to the circulation of Zhi Da Tongbao and Da Yuan Tongbao.

Unfortunately, these new policies were abolished by Emperor Renzong, and Wuzong’s “new policies” only lasted for one reign. Consequently, the minting and circulation of Zhi Da TongBao and Da Yuan Tongbao coins were also terminated.

物件編號: A1130

年代: 公元 1309 年

XRF分析結果:

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 40.9 x 40.4 x 3.4 mm

重量: 26.7 g 

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚出自元朝的錢幣。錢幣正面的文字特別，為當時元朝的國書—八思巴文，四字由上下至左右讀，譯為「大元通寶」；背面則無文。唯一特別的是，它並不是年號錢。

八思巴文，是元朝開國皇帝忽必烈指派國師，來自西藏的薩迦派喇嘛八思巴以吐蕃文字為基礎設計的蒙古文字。自忽必烈後，八思巴文便一直都是元朝的官方文字。

目前所見，元朝最早鑄造的八思巴文銅錢是元世祖時期的至元通寶，此類通寶出土甚少，因元代貨幣以紙錢（交鈔、寶鈔等）為主，所以官方鑄造銅錢的數量，相比於其他朝代要少得多。正史記載，正式頒行的銅錢只有元武宗的至大通寶、大元通寶和元順帝的至正通寶。

對於元代銅錢的鑄造和頒行，元武宗是個非常重要的時期，這與武宗推行的改革密不可分。

武宗做了兩件重要的改革，一是修建元中都、設立尚書省，更新庶政。二，就是變易鈔法，頒行至大銀鈔，兼行銅錢，並且“命以歷代銅錢 與至大錢相參行用”，也就是命令紙幣與銅錢一起發行通用。

這在元朝歷史上還是首次大規模、大範圍正式施行，故「至大通寶」和「大元通寶」才開始通行。

可惜的是，新政到元仁宗就廢除了，武宗的“新政”只經歷一朝。至大通寶和大元通寶的鑄造，流通也就終止了。