Item number: A1282

Year: 410-238 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 47.71 x 33.64 mm

Weight: 6.34 g

Manufactured by: An Yi

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2016

This is a ” An Yi Half Qin Spade Money ” coin from the early to middle Warring States period, produced by the State of Wei. An Yi was the early capital of Wei. “Qin” was a unit of weight used to measure the currency, and it also represented the value of the coin itself. The term “Half Qin” refers to the coin’s denomination, and the name ” An Yi Half Qin Spade Money ” is derived from this.

The ” An Yi Half Qin Spade Money ” belongs to the “Qin Spade Money” category of the spade-shaped currency. It is also known as “Arc shaped Foot Spade Money” due to the square foot and curved shape at the bottom of the coin, which resembles an arch or bridge. The front of the coin is stamped with its place of minting and denomination, with the inscriptions written upside down, meaning they need to be read from bottom to top and from left to right. The back of the coin is blank.

The ” Spade Money ” is a type of metal coin modelled after spade-shaped agricultural tools, and it is referred to in historical records as “鎛” (Bo) or the homophone “布” (Bu). As the first metal currency in Chinese history, spade money can often be found in the logos of financial departments and banking institutions in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Spade money developed from the late Shang Dynasty to the Warring States period, with the core region being the Three Jin States (Han, Zhao, Wei). Over time, it evolved into various forms. One of the key features of the Wei currency was the coin stamped with the character “釿” (Qin). In addition to the ” An Yi Half Qin,” there were also ” An Yi One Qin Spade Money.

物件編號: A1282

年代: 公元前 410-238 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 47.71 x 33.64 mm

重量: 6.34 g

製造地: 安邑

來源: 大城郵幣社 2016

這是一件出自戰國時期早中期的魏國「安邑半釿布幣」貨幣，安邑是魏國早期的首都，「釿」是當時計算貨幣重量的單位，亦是計算貨幣本身價值的單位，而「半釿」即為此貨幣的幣值，「安邑半釿布幣」之名便是由此而來。

「安邑半釿布幣」屬於布幣當中的「釿布」，又因為此種貨幣下方的方足和弧形構成了類似橋洞的形狀，因而也被稱作「橋足布」，貨幣正面鑄有其鑄造地及幣值，其以顛倒的方式書寫文字，需要從下至上，由左至右進行閱讀，背面則無字。

布幣是仿造鏟形農具的金屬錢幣，史書上寫作「鎛」或同音字「布」。由於布幣是中國歷史上第一種金屬貨幣，經常能在中國、香港和臺灣等地的財政部門和銀行機構標誌裡發現布幣。布幣從商朝末期發展到戰國時代，以三晉地區(韓、趙、魏)為核心已延伸出多種形態，其中書有「釿」字之布幣為魏國貨幣的一大特徵。除了「安邑半釿布幣」之外，也另有「安邑一釿布幣」、「安邑二釿布幣」，這些面值不同的布幣皆屬於魏國定都安邑時所鑄造之「安邑布」。「安邑布」有著不定型的特徵，例如同一面值的貨幣，背面或可能書有一「安」字，或可能無字，貨幣正面文字書寫方式或可能正寫、或可能倒寫，可見其鑄造時的不規範。