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<p>[QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 3790647, member: 78244"]Very nice pickups! You can never go wrong with cheap, genuine ancient Chinese cash!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Based on style and nature alone, these were almost certainly cast in the 15 years between the fall of Wang Mang and the reinstatement of the Wu Zhu by the Han Dynasty. There was no government oversight in the production of coins, so it was up to private citizens to add to the money supply. The coins made during this time were Huo Quans of varying quality.</p><p><br /></p><p>These resulted in crude, small, illicitly-cast Huo Quans (0.5-1.5g) as well as these giant “biscuit” Huo Quans. Wang Mang had a tight government monopoly on the coinage, so crude private issues would not have been regularly made. This dates them to post-Wang Mang. The smallest ones (<1g) are likely funerary issues and buried with the dead, where as 1-1.5g coins circulated (from hoard evidence). The existence of the biscuit ho quans (5-30g) is puzzling, but the wide variance in weights suggests that they traded in weight as bullion, and the common inscription marked them as acceptable tender. This would make some sense because the denomination “Huo Quan” was in no way related the metallic content of the coins, and the Chinese people were just liberated from a tyrannical rule where all forms of “based” currency (like Wu Zhus) were outlawed. The Chinese economy at this point was effectively trashed, so a barter system based on unofficial bullion slugs is plausible.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Chinese call these “cake” coins, possibly because they are roughly the shape of rice cakes (which tend to be rather small, on the order of these coins).</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is my nicest “biscuit”, weighing in at a hefty 24.1g! Relatively very few get larger than this.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1012630[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And here is a picture of various Huo Quans from my collection (taken ca December 2016). I might have have gotten a couple hundred more since then.</p><p><br /></p><p>Top left are official issues from the reign of Wang Mang. The top right 3 are ~5g biscuits. The second row is a mixture of official (left 4) and illicit (right 3) coins. The third row are all illicit coins with some of the smallest ones being funerary pieces. The bottom right coin is another huge biscuit, but the inscription is almost invisible. There are also two errors where there is no inscription.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1012631[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Really nice example! These were a victim of a gradual weight regression as their value in the economy decreased. The bottom right 5 are all funerary issues.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1012632[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Very pretty! You will find that there are many different varieties for very cheap.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1012633[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 3790647, member: 78244"]Very nice pickups! You can never go wrong with cheap, genuine ancient Chinese cash! Based on style and nature alone, these were almost certainly cast in the 15 years between the fall of Wang Mang and the reinstatement of the Wu Zhu by the Han Dynasty. There was no government oversight in the production of coins, so it was up to private citizens to add to the money supply. The coins made during this time were Huo Quans of varying quality. These resulted in crude, small, illicitly-cast Huo Quans (0.5-1.5g) as well as these giant “biscuit” Huo Quans. Wang Mang had a tight government monopoly on the coinage, so crude private issues would not have been regularly made. This dates them to post-Wang Mang. The smallest ones (<1g) are likely funerary issues and buried with the dead, where as 1-1.5g coins circulated (from hoard evidence). The existence of the biscuit ho quans (5-30g) is puzzling, but the wide variance in weights suggests that they traded in weight as bullion, and the common inscription marked them as acceptable tender. This would make some sense because the denomination “Huo Quan” was in no way related the metallic content of the coins, and the Chinese people were just liberated from a tyrannical rule where all forms of “based” currency (like Wu Zhus) were outlawed. The Chinese economy at this point was effectively trashed, so a barter system based on unofficial bullion slugs is plausible. The Chinese call these “cake” coins, possibly because they are roughly the shape of rice cakes (which tend to be rather small, on the order of these coins). Here is my nicest “biscuit”, weighing in at a hefty 24.1g! Relatively very few get larger than this. [ATTACH=full]1012630[/ATTACH] And here is a picture of various Huo Quans from my collection (taken ca December 2016). I might have have gotten a couple hundred more since then. Top left are official issues from the reign of Wang Mang. The top right 3 are ~5g biscuits. The second row is a mixture of official (left 4) and illicit (right 3) coins. The third row are all illicit coins with some of the smallest ones being funerary pieces. The bottom right coin is another huge biscuit, but the inscription is almost invisible. There are also two errors where there is no inscription. [ATTACH=full]1012631[/ATTACH] Really nice example! These were a victim of a gradual weight regression as their value in the economy decreased. The bottom right 5 are all funerary issues. [ATTACH=full]1012632[/ATTACH] Very pretty! You will find that there are many different varieties for very cheap. [ATTACH=full]1012633[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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