Today we talk about the method of coining ancient Chinese coins. Look at the three coins in the picture. These three coins are half and two coins of the Qin State during the pre-Qin and Warring States period. Kangxi Tongbao is a coin from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. The ten characters are The coins in the Republic of China seem to be irrelevant, but in fact they are really irrelevant. Today I took out these three coins to mainly talk about the evolution of ancient Chinese coin casting methods.
First of all, everyone should understand that China is one of the first countries in the world to use metal coins. Bronze coins have been minted as early as in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Now some of the earliest bronze coins have been discovered through archaeology, that is, cast copper. The shell was cast in the late Shang Dynasty. It was a long time earlier than the half and two coins. The copper shell at that time was also the half and two coins of the pre-Qin period we are talking about today. Its casting method is the simplest and most traditional casting method. The method is the fan casting method. What is the fan casting method?
Fan casting method is to use this kind of clay mold, copper fan or stone fan to make money. Simply put, it is to pour liquid metal into a mold with the same coin shape, and then cool it to form a coin. Fan casting method casts metal coins or metals. When it comes to utensils, it has a process probably.
The first one to make a mold is to make a model.
The second point is to pour liquid metal into the fan.
The third is natural cooling.
The fourth is to take out the cast shape, some may be coins, some may be bronzes and so on.
The fifth is processing. Perform fine processing. In the process of processing, you may grind the edges and perform a simple trimming. The process of polishing the outer edge and the inner wall is not available in the half-two-dollar casting. , Appeared late, after the yuan money appeared, that is, the three baht money that appeared in the Western Han Dynasty Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the final shape was the red square five baht during the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it has been continued since then, and some of the later money was basically There will be some trimming of sidewalks and piercings.
The second is that casting money from sand is like Kangxi Tongbao. When did casting money from sand appear? First of all, everyone understands that Fan Zhuqian began to appear in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and then continued to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The foundry cast money is what we call the mother coin’s foundry casting method. It has been used approximately from the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty. In the early stage of the dynasty, from the current research and the actual analysis, the sand casting method had appeared and used as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, by the time of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, there were still some areas that were still using the fan casting process for casting. Money, I believe everyone can understand that no matter at that time or now, there were always some areas, advanced and some lagging behind, so it was completely popularized after the Tang Dynasty.
The third one is Shiwen money. This is forging and casting coins, which were introduced from the West. Forging and casting coins were started in the late Qing Dynasty and were used until the Republic of China. The coins we now cast are also forged and cast and improved afterwards. I am not sure about the specific method of casting. If you are clear, please leave a message to share in the comment area.