Item number: A1279

Year: ND

Material: Silver

Size: 43.5 x 23.5 x 5.1 mm

Weight: 33.55 g

Provenance: Xiang Yun Antique 2008

This is a one-tael silver ingot of undetermined age from China. The ingot features a round head with a narrowed waist, and numerous casting pores are visible on the back and sides, likely resulting from the recasting process.

The surface shows proportionately inward-converging ripple patterns, and there are ten partially illegible Chinese characters stamped on the surface. However, the inscription “寶貨 壹兩” (Treasure Currency One Tael) can still be discerned on the right side.

Throughout Chinese history, copper-alloy coins with square holes served as the primary medium of exchange. Silver began to shift from a luxury item to a more widely accessible currency around the Southern Song and Jin dynasties. This trend reached its peak in the mid-Ming period, particularly following the Age of Exploration, which brought a significant influx of silver from the Americas into China. This influx prompted Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng during the reign of Emperor Wanli to adopt silver as the basis for tax payments. Prior to the introduction of machine-minted silver coins in the late Qing Dynasty, modelled after Western methods, silver circulated primarily in the form of ingots for both commerce and manufacturing.

物件編號: A1279

年代: 未明

材質: 銀

尺寸: 43.5 x 23.5 x 5.1 mm

重量: 33.55 g

來源: 祥雲珍寶閣 2008

這是一枚來自中國但年代不明的壹兩銀錠，銀錠的外觀呈現為束身圓頭，背面和側邊留有許多翻鑄留下的氣孔。銀錠表面則有成比例向內收縮的波紋紋飾，並且在表面有打印十個字跡不甚清楚的漢字，但是尚能勉強判斷其中右邊的「寶貨 壹兩」字樣。

中國歷史上各個朝代以銅合金的方孔錢作為主要流通貨幣，白銀作為一種跳脫奢侈品和成為市場較為普及的貨幣，大致是始於南宋和金朝之際，其高峰為明中葉地理大發現之後，來自美洲大陸的白銀大舉流入中國，使得明神宗年間的宰相張居正以白銀作為納稅的依據。而在清末師從西方機械鑄造的銀元以前，白銀在中國主要以銀錠的形制流通和製造。