Item number: A1261

Year: 285-221 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 30.5 x 29.5 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 6.05 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2016

This is a round square hole money, “I Sze Hou” minted by the Qin state during the Warring States period. The coin is round with a square hole in the centre. On the front side, the characters “賹” and “四化” are cast in seal script on the left and right sides, with an ancient and simple appearance. The reverse side is blank.

“I Sze Hou” is actually a type of round money minted and issued by the Qi state. The character “賹” is a weight unit used by Qi, where 1 “賹” is equivalent to 20 or 24 liang, while “化” is a monetary unit used by Qi for both knife money and round money. For example, “I Sze Hou” is worth four knife coins. The reason why the Qin state also minted “I Sze Hou” is that, during its campaigns against the other six states, Qin employed a strategy of currency warfare to disrupt the economies of its rivals. For instance, Qin minted copper shell money and round money of the Chu state to challenge its economic interests. It is speculated that the “I Sze Hou” minted by Qin was part of this monetary war against the Qi state.

Round Money (圜錢) evolved from shell money. Archaeologists have discovered a type of finely cut and polished round shell with a central hole, which was used as currency in ancient times. Later, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, these shell moneys were cast in copper, forming the prototype of the round money. Early round money were without inscriptions, featuring a central hole, one side convex and the other flat. Over time, they gradually evolved into square-holed round money. By the early Eastern Zhou period, round money with inscriptions began to appear, and by the early Warring States period, their circulation reached its peak. However, as various states’ governments forced the round money to be made heavier and more valuable, the production costs of these coins increased. Additionally, the regions where round money circulated often became battlegrounds during wars between states. As a result, round money makers were forced to continually reduce the weight of round money until it could no longer be decreased, leading to their eventual extinction.

物件編號: A1261

年代: 公元前 285-221 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 30.5 x 29.5 x 1.4 mm

重量: 6.05 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2016

這是一枚戰國時期秦國所鑄的方孔圜錢「賹四化」，錢面呈圓形、方形穿孔，錢幣正面左右側分別有以篆字所鑄之「賹」「四化」字樣，字跡古樸，背面無字。

「賹四化」實際上是一種由齊國鑄造、發行之圜錢，「賹」是齊國的重量單位，1賹等於20兩或24兩，而「化」則是齊國用於刀幣和圜錢的貨幣單位，像「賹四化」就值四枚刀幣。「賹四化」之所以也被秦國所鑄造，是因為秦國在對抗其他六國時，亦曾實施貨幣戰，用於擾亂敵國經濟，例如秦國便曾鑄造楚國的銅貝、圜錢來與其爭利，而秦國鑄的「賹四化」推測是用於向齊國發起的貨幣戰。

圜錢是由貝幣所蛻變出的貨幣，過去考古學者出土過一種剪磨精整的圓形貝殼，中央則有一個圓形穿孔，是古人所流通的一種貨幣。後來這種貝幣到殷商變成以銅鑄造，就成了圜錢的原形。早期圜錢並無文字，中央為圓孔，一側凸起、一側扁平，之後逐漸演變出方孔型的圓錢，接著約東周初年時開始出現有字的圜錢，在戰國初期其流通程度到達高峰。之後由於各國政府強制圜錢增重增值，導致圜錢製作成本增加，而圜錢主要流通地區又經常成為各國交戰之戰場，因而鑄圜錢者被迫持續將其重量減少，直到圜錢重量已無可再減，最終消滅。