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Coin haul creates mystery
By Pan Zheng |
January 13, 2011, Thursday
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A discovery of ancient coins spanning a period of more than 1,500 years was recently made on a construction site near Xixi. Pan Zheng finds out why the treasure trove might have been buried there.
More than 2 tons of ancient coins were excavated from a construction site in the Xixi area last month, Hangzhou's relic management authorities said in a recent press conference. It was Hangzhou's biggest archaeological find since 1949 with the most varieties and longest time span.
The coins were found on December 10. The green and brown coins emerged from the soil when an excavator started to dig.
"All the workers were shocked and soon the police came and took over the site," said a worker surnamed Zhou on the construction site on Wenyi Road W.
Later, staff from the Hangzhou Archaeological Institute of Cultural Relics arrived and worked late into the night. More than 1 million coins were unearthed, but apparently some coins are still finding their way onto the market.
According to the Archaeological Institute, all the coins were originally packed in a huge leather case, the volume of 14 regular luggage carriers.
After the preliminary cleanup, it was confirmed that the coins in the case were actually from different dynasties, with the oldest one dating back to 175 BC in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) and the latest one made in 1368 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The time span ranges over 1,500 years, and most of the coins were from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Fortunately, most of the coins were preserved very well, which makes them important materials for the study of politics, economy, culture and currency history in ancient China.
The Archaeological Institute said that these 2 tons of coins were almost 20 years' worth of living expenses for a common family in the Song Dynasty. If these coins were the entire property of a family, it would definitely be a comparatively rich family in any age.
On the value of the coins in current times, a coin seller surnamed Wu gave his estimation: "Two tons of such ancient coins are worth at least 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) in the market nowadays."
After this huge archaeological find was made known to the public, the construction site suddenly became very popular. Scholars, reporters, coin collectors, sellers and others with simple curiosity came to visit. Now, most people are wondering: Was Xixi a rich area in ancient times? And, are there more coins still buried under this land?
However, the biggest mystery is who was the original owner of these coins and why they were buried under the earth .
Since the coins are speculated to have been buried some time between 1394 and 1411 in the Ming Dynasty, some experts believe they were placed under the earth as a kind of investment.
According to Wang Zhengyu from the Archaeological Institute, in the early Ming Dynasty, the emperor claimed that all copper coins were not allowed to be used and should be exchanged for paper currencies. However, because the copper itself was pretty valuable at that time, some people started to collect the copper coins secretly, which might go to explain the coins unearthed in Xixi.
Some other experts also guessed that it might simply be the collection belonging to someone during the Ming Dynasty with an interest in ancient coins, or it was a rich family's secret cash-box for escaping war orother misfortune.
More than 2 tons of ancient coins were excavated from a construction site in the Xixi area last month, Hangzhou's relic management authorities said in a recent press conference. It was Hangzhou's biggest archaeological find since 1949 with the most varieties and longest time span.
The coins were found on December 10. The green and brown coins emerged from the soil when an excavator started to dig.
"All the workers were shocked and soon the police came and took over the site," said a worker surnamed Zhou on the construction site on Wenyi Road W.
Later, staff from the Hangzhou Archaeological Institute of Cultural Relics arrived and worked late into the night. More than 1 million coins were unearthed, but apparently some coins are still finding their way onto the market.
According to the Archaeological Institute, all the coins were originally packed in a huge leather case, the volume of 14 regular luggage carriers.
After the preliminary cleanup, it was confirmed that the coins in the case were actually from different dynasties, with the oldest one dating back to 175 BC in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) and the latest one made in 1368 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The time span ranges over 1,500 years, and most of the coins were from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Fortunately, most of the coins were preserved very well, which makes them important materials for the study of politics, economy, culture and currency history in ancient China.
The Archaeological Institute said that these 2 tons of coins were almost 20 years' worth of living expenses for a common family in the Song Dynasty. If these coins were the entire property of a family, it would definitely be a comparatively rich family in any age.
On the value of the coins in current times, a coin seller surnamed Wu gave his estimation: "Two tons of such ancient coins are worth at least 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) in the market nowadays."
After this huge archaeological find was made known to the public, the construction site suddenly became very popular. Scholars, reporters, coin collectors, sellers and others with simple curiosity came to visit. Now, most people are wondering: Was Xixi a rich area in ancient times? And, are there more coins still buried under this land?
However, the biggest mystery is who was the original owner of these coins and why they were buried under the earth .
Since the coins are speculated to have been buried some time between 1394 and 1411 in the Ming Dynasty, some experts believe they were placed under the earth as a kind of investment.
According to Wang Zhengyu from the Archaeological Institute, in the early Ming Dynasty, the emperor claimed that all copper coins were not allowed to be used and should be exchanged for paper currencies. However, because the copper itself was pretty valuable at that time, some people started to collect the copper coins secretly, which might go to explain the coins unearthed in Xixi.
Some other experts also guessed that it might simply be the collection belonging to someone during the Ming Dynasty with an interest in ancient coins, or it was a rich family's secret cash-box for escaping war orother misfortune.
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