Item number: A1083

Year: AD 1245

Material: Bronze

Size: 25.7 x 25.9 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 4.9 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This coin is a “Chunyou Yuanbao,” minted during the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song Dynasty. Its distinctive feature is the use of regular script for the inscriptions, though the characters have suffered some damage.

This is a square-holed coin. The obverse side of the coin features a central square hole, with the four characters “Chunyou Yuanbao” inscribed in regular script in a clockwise direction around the coin’s surface, though the inscriptions exhibit slight erosion. The reverse side also features a central square hole, and the coin’s surface is uneven, with what appears to be a faintly inscribed character “Five” at the top, likely indicating that it was minted in the fifth year of Chunyou. Additionally, the colouration on both sides of the coin is uneven.

The Chunyou Yuanbao was minted during the Chunyou period of Emperor Lizong’s reign (AD 1241–1252) and, alongside the Chunyou Tongbao, served as a key currency of that era. In terms of design, the Chunyou Yuanbao was made of copper, with denominations of “one-cash” and “two-cash.” The inscriptions on the reverse typically indicated the year of minting.

In contrast, the Chunyou Tongbao, also produced in copper and iron, was issued in denominations such as “one-cash,” “three-cash,” “ten-cash,” and “one-hundred-cash,” with the reverse inscriptions indicating the coin’s face value. Consequently, the Chunyou Tongbao offered a broader range of high-denomination coins.

According to the standard specifications for coins of the Song dynasty, the diameter of one-cash coins typically ranges from 22 to 25 mm, suggesting that this Chunyou Yuanbao is likely a one-cash coin.

物件編號: A1083

年代: 公元 1245 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 25.7 x 25.9 x 1.0 mm

重量: 4.9 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這枚錢幣是南宋理宗時期鑄造的「淳祐元寶」，面額為小平錢，其特色是幣面文字採楷書風格，字體受到些許損傷。

這是一枚方孔錢。錢幣的正面中央有一方孔，幣面以順時針方向，鐫刻楷書「淳祐元寶」四字，但字跡都有些微磨蝕痕跡。錢幣的反面中央也有一方孔，幣面整體來看凹凸不平，上方疑似鑄有「五」字，表示為淳祐五年鑄造。此外，錢幣正反面成色皆不均勻。

淳祐元寶鑄造於南宋理宗淳祐年間(公元1241-1252年)，與淳祐通寶同為此時重要的通貨。不過在形制上，淳祐元寶為銅錢，分小平、折二錢，且錢幣背面文字表示鑄造時間；淳祐通寶有銅錢、鐵錢，分小平、折三、當十、當百等，而錢幣背面文字表示面額。相較而言，淳祐通寶有較多虛值大錢。

按兩宋錢幣形制來看，小平錢約在直徑22至25毫米左右，故這枚淳祐元寶應為小平錢。