I bought this from Frank Robinson's fixed-price list a while ago and am just getting around to posting it: China, North and South Dynasties period (420-581 AD). AE 4 zhu (square 11 mm with "hanger", no center hole). Obverse: Si Zhu (4 zhu). Reverse: Dong A (place name?). Cf. Hartill 13.55, Fisher's Ding 626 (but with center hole and without hanger). This coin is thought to come from the North and South Dynasties period, a time of political disunity in China when both northern and southern China were each ruled by a series of weak and short-lived dynasties. Large amounts of Si Zhu (4 zhu) coins were cast, but the quality was low, with poor casting and huge center holes. Another product of the time was a series of small square Si Zhu coins, sometimes with round (!) center holes and sometimes without, and occasionally with a "hanger" attachment like on this piece. A variety of reverse inscriptions are known, which are thought to be place names. Unfortunately, it is not known exactly when these coins were issued, and the place names are obscure, so there's not a lot else I can say about the history. Interestingly, this exact type is not listed in either Fisher's Ding or in Hartill's recent catalogue. The closest match is Hartill 13.55, FD 626, which matches the obverse and reverse inscriptions, but lacks the hanger and has a round center hole. Hartill 13.57 (FD 629) lacks center hole and has a hanger, like this piece, but the reverse inscription of that coin reads Ding Xiang. I bought it from Frank Robinson, trusting his belief that this is an authentic but unpublished variety. Post your related coins, or coins not listed in standard catalogues that you bought on a trusted dealers' say-so.
I picked up a similar piece from Frank as well, no photo though. Ken Dorney attributed @Alegandron's to the Liu Song dynasty, see here. Very interesting coins!
Thanks for the heads-up, I either never saw or else forgot about that post. I agree, very interesting coins. Why did they suddenly make square coins after several centuries of standard round cash, and then go on to add those hangers on some of them? Probably no way to know for sure this much later, but maybe some dedicated scholar can figure something out.
Frank has said that these supposedly came out of a Chinese museum de-accession but I also know that a dealer/collector passed away a few years back who had a lot of them. I think when they are absorbed into the market we may not see them again for a long time.
Mine from Frank Robinson: I showed mine to Bob Reis, and he said they probably came from the Jeffery Young collection.
I have one of these too. The 4 zhu inscription is very closely aligned to the Northern Southern period. This denomination came to be in the Liu Song Dynasty thus it is likely to be cause for the attribution. Hartill lists them as many variants but all are equally rare.
