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<p>[QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 3997888, member: 78244"]While I was at FUN, a dealer friend bought a large hoard of about 200 Da Quan Wu Shi coins. This hoard was intact, never picked through, and never cleaned. Since I love going through hoards, I looked through all of the coins, and presented here are my observations. I bought 24 of the coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>The vast majority were nice official issues. Many were rather crusty or had problems such as cracks, holes, etc. Pictured here are the nicest. Notice how bold the inscriptions and rims are, and how symmetric the characters are. These all weighed over 5 grams, with the heaviest being about 9.7 grams.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1052577[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052578[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Closeup of the two nicest from the hoard so that the style is clear:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1052579[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052580[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Wang Mang’s rule was quite turbulent and marked by rampant counterfeiting. With several of his spade types, there are more extant contemporary counterfeits than official issues, which makes finding official issues for my collection quite difficult. The value-50 coins were not immune from the counterfeiting. I picked out the most obvious contemporary counterfeits from the hoard (there happened to be 10), though there could have been more that I glanced over. This means that 5-10% (or more) of the circulating cash at the time was counterfeit, which is an incredibly high number.</p><p><br /></p><p>The contemporary counterfeits are identified by soft, low-relief characters/rims, or characters that have poor symmetry.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also bought a single lightweight issue (bottom-right). There were less than 10 lightweight issues (<4 grams) in the entire hoard, maybe less than 5 (I was in a hurry, so I did not keep a detailed inventory). While it is possible that these were also contemporary counterfeits, it is also possible that they were pseudo-Wu Zhu coins (the populace was desperate for a trusted coinage). Between 11 and 14 AD, Wang Mang had given up on his utopian fiat currency and started issuing pseudo-Wu Zhu coins in the form of Bu Quans. </p><p><br /></p><p>Well-styled 2.5-4g Da Quan Wu Shi coins are possibly official issues meant to serve as coins with a value equal to a Wu Zhu. This is supported by the fact that they traded as Wu Zhus after 14 AD. The well-styled 2.5-4g Da Quan Wu Shis are quite common and very consistent in style, which strongly suggests that they are official issues.</p><p><br /></p><p>The low number of lightweight coins and the complete absence of Huo Quans in the hoard suggests a burial date between 11 and 14 AD, likely earlier in that date range.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1052581[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052583[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Closeup of 4 contemporary counterfeit Da Quan Wu Shis. Note the weak/soft characters on the top two and the asymmetric characters on the bottom two.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1052584[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052585[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 3997888, member: 78244"]While I was at FUN, a dealer friend bought a large hoard of about 200 Da Quan Wu Shi coins. This hoard was intact, never picked through, and never cleaned. Since I love going through hoards, I looked through all of the coins, and presented here are my observations. I bought 24 of the coins. The vast majority were nice official issues. Many were rather crusty or had problems such as cracks, holes, etc. Pictured here are the nicest. Notice how bold the inscriptions and rims are, and how symmetric the characters are. These all weighed over 5 grams, with the heaviest being about 9.7 grams. [ATTACH=full]1052577[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052578[/ATTACH] Closeup of the two nicest from the hoard so that the style is clear: [ATTACH=full]1052579[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052580[/ATTACH] Wang Mang’s rule was quite turbulent and marked by rampant counterfeiting. With several of his spade types, there are more extant contemporary counterfeits than official issues, which makes finding official issues for my collection quite difficult. The value-50 coins were not immune from the counterfeiting. I picked out the most obvious contemporary counterfeits from the hoard (there happened to be 10), though there could have been more that I glanced over. This means that 5-10% (or more) of the circulating cash at the time was counterfeit, which is an incredibly high number. The contemporary counterfeits are identified by soft, low-relief characters/rims, or characters that have poor symmetry. I also bought a single lightweight issue (bottom-right). There were less than 10 lightweight issues (<4 grams) in the entire hoard, maybe less than 5 (I was in a hurry, so I did not keep a detailed inventory). While it is possible that these were also contemporary counterfeits, it is also possible that they were pseudo-Wu Zhu coins (the populace was desperate for a trusted coinage). Between 11 and 14 AD, Wang Mang had given up on his utopian fiat currency and started issuing pseudo-Wu Zhu coins in the form of Bu Quans. Well-styled 2.5-4g Da Quan Wu Shi coins are possibly official issues meant to serve as coins with a value equal to a Wu Zhu. This is supported by the fact that they traded as Wu Zhus after 14 AD. The well-styled 2.5-4g Da Quan Wu Shis are quite common and very consistent in style, which strongly suggests that they are official issues. The low number of lightweight coins and the complete absence of Huo Quans in the hoard suggests a burial date between 11 and 14 AD, likely earlier in that date range. [ATTACH=full]1052581[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052583[/ATTACH] Closeup of 4 contemporary counterfeit Da Quan Wu Shis. Note the weak/soft characters on the top two and the asymmetric characters on the bottom two. [ATTACH=full]1052584[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1052585[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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