Featured Gold-Inlaid Knife Coin: The Fascinating story of the Rise and Fall of Wang Mang

This coin is the one I had hinted at in the “Post Your Favorite Coin” thread. I was extremely excited to be able to buy it, and I was quite surprised for one to simply fall into my grasp like this one did. What you are looking at is a gold-inlaid knife cast by Wang Mang between 6 and 9 AD. The inscription reads “Yi Dao Ping Wu Qian,” or “One Knife Worth Five Thousand.” Since it will readily fit into your hand, you might be surprised how something so small can be worth five thousand of a monetary unit (likely Wu Zhu). However, there is a reason for why this is, which I will explain below.



I am sure most of you have at least heard of Wang Mang, but I would guess that few of you are familiar with the details of his story. If so, then there is no time like the present to read about this fascinating tale. I find the lore surrounding Wang Mang’s rule to be some of the most fascinating in all of world history as it began with brilliance and good intentions but ended in tragedy of the highest scale.

Wang Mang was born into the very wealthy and powerful Wang family in 45 BC (“Wang” translates directly to “King”), which is regarded as probably the most powerful family in China at the time. Though closely-connected to the imperial family, Mang’s part of the family was the “poor” part and his father died while Mang was young, so he did not have the access to power and luxury that other members of his family enjoyed. However, his cousins abused their extreme wealth; they lived expensively and often tried to compete to see could spend more money on increasingly-exorbitant projects. Mang saw this, and he detested such a vicarious lifestyle when so much of China’s population had barely enough food to survive. Mang, on the other hand, chose to live thriftily and humbly, gaining the respect of many of his peers. Despite his limited political power, Mang had extensive access to resources (both financial and social), which he used to study rather than engage in sport or “frivolities.” Mang was fascinated with science and the arts, which lead him to found a university in the capital on Chang’an, as well as take time to pursue studies in manned flight, human dissection, and musical composition. Throughout his scholarship, Mang became enamored with Confucian ideology, which would shape his decisions and policies. More on that later…

I will not describe in detail Mang’s rise up the political ladder as it involves dozens of similar-sounding names and a very complex family tree. If you are desperate to know more, there are many sources out there, but I recommend Wikipedia as it is quite detailed yet concise (linked at the bottom). Anyhoo, Mang gained the support of the people with his intellect and generosity. Mang refused to accumulate wealth for the sake of being wealthy, so he would give most of it away, which garnered much popularity and praise. This led to an increase in power, which was his end goal. In one instance, there was a petition with 487,572 signatures urging Mang’s promotion sent to the emperor. Untainted by corruption and graft, Mang would take advantage of the corruption of those in his way, and, let’s say, have them moved out of the way. He would also take advantage of the superstitions thickly interwoven into the Chinese culture to legitimize his decisions and eventually take total control. Cold-blooded murder was also not above Mang when so much was on the line.

In 7 AD, before he had become emperor, Mang had nearly absolute control over China by ruling through an infant emperor (which he had intentionally chosen). At this time Mang ordered the nationalization of gold, where all gold was turned in to the government in exchange for extremely-high-value bronze knife coins (often called “key coins”) like the one posted above. My example, the value 5000, was worth about a half-cattie of gold, where one cattie of gold weighed 120g. The other variety of the knife coins had a value of 500, and a value-50 coin was minted as well. Mang’s Confucian ideals are evident in the shape of this coin. Confucians looked upon the Zhou Dynasty for perfection when it came to running the country, so it was natural for Wang Mang to model his currencies off of coins from this era (though, ironically, he copied coins from the turbulent Warring States period). The knife-shaped and round coins had strong design elements from the Wu Zhus currently circulating to add a bit of familiarity and thus acceptability.



A Qi Knife



The value-500 knife: “Qi Dao Wu Bai” (“Qi Knife Five Hundred”)



A couple Western Han Wu Zhus

The program was obviously quite successful as 150 tons of gold was found in the treasury upon Wang Mang’s death. In addition, the Roman Emperor Augustus banned the purchase of Chinese silks when it became apparent that the Roman gold used to purchase them just seemed to disappear without reciprocation. It is unknown what the penalty for continuing to hoard gold was, but we know that many of the aristocracy was executed during this period.

Two years later, these knife coins were demonetized, which destroyed the wealth of the aristocracy overnight. Wang Mang had planned this so that all the hard wealth and power would be centrally controlled by him and his government. By having no money, the aristocracy had no power. Unfortunately for Mang, he had thus set a precedent that any fiduciary coins he issued were not guaranteed to hold their values. This will haunt him later…

Now that you know the context for my new coin, let’s explore the rest of Wang Mang’s short reign.

In 9 AD, Mang seized firm, absolute control over China, establishing his Xin (“New”) Dynasty. He immediately began a series of significant reforms which, in his mind, would improve the conditions of the poor disfranchised by the wealthy. His main reforms were:

1. The abolition of slavery through a ruinous tax on slave owners. Wang Mang detested slavery, showing a bit of his humanitarian side

2. The nationalization of land, essentially making the government own all of it. Since no one would have outright ownership of the land, no individuals can prey on the misfortunes or desperation on fellow landowners and eventually monopolize the land in the area. This would protect the poor during unpredictable maladies.

3. Distributing the land evenly among the population, so each family would have around 5 acres. These families were expected to cultivate the land responsibly; failure to do so would lead to having to pay the substantial “sloth tax,” which punished those who left arable land uncultivated.

4. Families were grouped into “chings,” which consisted of 6-8 families. This was an attempt to return to the traditional “well field” system, where each family would have access to the best ground in their area.

5. A national bank that will offer fair interest rates o everyone in the population. This would prevent unscrupulous private bankers from taking of other people through loan sharking.

6. The government will intervene in the markets to control and stabilize prices. It would buy up good when they are cheap to raise the price, and it would sell the excess during hard times to lower the price.

7. A coinage system with 15 denominations ranging from a value of 1 to 1000. It is not specified whether these coins were valued in “zhus” or “cash” (wu [5] zhus). Some say that ambiguity, coupled with the fact that the value-1 coin has a weight of 1 zhu, means these coins were simply valued in zhu. But if that were the case, then the lowest-value coin would be the only one that would be trusted and used since it was worth its stated value. That would be adverse to Wang Mang’s goals of having all of his coins circulate. A little more on this later.

Wang Mang’s justification for these coins: “If all currency is large, when one needs a small amount it is not available. If it is small [like the Wu Zhus currently in circulation], transporting it is troublesome and expensive. If large and small exist, then their use is convenient.” This sounds a lot like the currency system in place today.

8. An annual income tax of 10% on money earned or crop yields per working individual. Those who failed to register for the income tax were punished with a year of hard labor. This is the first known instance of a tax that was levied at a set percent, regardless of income.

All of these things seem like good ideas that would benefit society, so how did they result in such a spectacular failure? Well, let me tell you.

The ching system was widely resented by the peasantry. Not only were all members of the ching made responsible for the actions of each other, but 5 acres of land per family was simply not enough to adequately support a family (10-15 acres was needed). Couple this with the famine caused by changes in the course of the yellow river, one can see why people were upset. This reform also shows that though Wang Mang wanted to help the peasantry, his position in society kept him at a distance from understanding their needs. Despite the good intentions, this reform along with the reform against slavery were rescinded within 2 years.

The new income tax also caused an uproar, which is strange because for the farmers the tax decreased from 50% percent of the yield to 10%. Perhaps it was the sudden and drastic change that scared the mostly-uneducated peasantry, or it was because a new state monopoly on wine was introduced to help make up the difference in revenue.

The population was not trusting of Wang Mang’s new coinage, so they opted to continue transactions in wu zhus instead. Wang Mang countered this making the use (and eventually ownership) of the Han wu zhus a capital punishment (aka punishable by death). With this order, Wang Mang pretty much doomed the economy. As there was a general distrust towards the new coins, merchants refused them, effectively causing the economy to grind to a halt. There are accounts of people crying in the marketplaces, and “great mass[es] of half-starved humanity” cluttering the streets. Wang Mang even made criticism of his new coins a capital punishment. Of great concern was the sudden and drastic rise in counterfeiting. At first, those caught counterfeiting were simply put to death, but this was apparently not deterring enough, so the penalty was escalated to the counterfeiter’s family and the families of the nearest five neighbors being sentenced to state slavery. Charcoal and copper also became state monopolies to aid in the prevention of counterfeiting. Pictured here is a contemporary counterfeit of the value-5000 knife coin, made obvious by the calligraphy style and genuine patina.



Now that wu zhus are banned and yet no one trusts the new coins, the population begins reverting back to ancient forms of currency: cowries, tortoise shells, etc. Seeing the threat of this, Wang Mang (probably) ordered all alternate currencies to be turned in for new cash according to the table below (from Robert Tye).



Only 3 of the 15 coins actually circulated, the value-1 (Xiao Quan Zhi Yi), the value 50 (Da Quan Wu Shi), and the value-1000 spade (Da Bu Huang Qian), making them very common today.



Xiao Quan Zhi Yi (“Small Coin Value One”) at top, and 2 Da Quan Wu Shi (“Great Coin Fifty”) coins at bottom.



Da Bu Huang Qian (“Large Spade ??? 1000”). I am not sure how “Huang” translates in this context as it means “yellow”.

Due to the overall unsuccess of the coins, the unpopular denominations were demonetized and recalled in 14 AD, being replaced by the Huo Quan, Bu Quan, and Huo Bu. These were valued much more closely to their intrinsic weights, making them far more accepted. These were all carefully and precisely cast to discourage counterfeiting, which is why the calligraphy is so beautiful.



Huo Bu (“Money Spade”)

The economic breakdown additionally spurred total social breakdown as well. Freelance criminals became commonplace across the empire, and corruption from lack of pay in the civil service skyrocketed. Mang was ridiculed by most, and he daily feared assassination. His sophisticated ideas were rejected by the very people who they were meant to help because they were too sophisticated for their audience. Now that the expectations of reforming China into a utopia were gone, Wang Mang worked day and night desperately trying to keep the empire from collapsing into total chaos. Ha had massive numbers of the Huo Quan’s and Huo Bu’s cast to help pay the members in the civil service. He instated a complex system that would reward civil servants for the results of their work, but since it was too complicated to follow, they continued taking advantage of the population. The sophistication of Mang’s mind had obviously done more of a disservice to the country than he could ever have imagined.

At the outskirts of the empire, there were severe famines that led to much starvation and some reports of cannibalism. From these areas, a rebellion began forming, becoming known as the “Red Eyebrows,” which eventually became strong enough to defeat the imperial armies. An army supporting the Han lineage was also formed, defeating the 420,000-strong imperial army. Hundreds of thousands of the starving gathered outside of the capital begging for some kind of relief. The imperial granaries were opened to lower the price as per his reform, but the price remained high because the officials in charge of distribution chose to sell the grain on the black market instead. Because of this, 70-80% of these people perished. Out of desperation to stabilize the empire, Wang Mang ordered a recall of all his reforms. But it was too late. In 23 AD, the resurging Han army descended upon Chang’an and overtook it. Mang, by now delirious from drugs and simply losing his mind from the situation, locked himself in a tower in his palace, along with the last few of his supporters. The Han troops made their way to his hiding spot and butchered him. Pieces of his body were sold as mementos. His head was hung in the marketplace and then held in the imperial court vault until it was destroyed by a fire during the Jin Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period. Famously, his tongue was removed from his head and eaten. With this, the Han Dynasty was finally in control once more, moving its capital to the east (hence “Eastern Han Dynasty”). In all, it is estimated that a third to half of China’s population perished during the 14 years Wang Mang was emperor.

Now that you know the greater historical contect for this coin, you can understand why I feel giddy every time I hold it. I am absolutely sure that it is genuine for several reasons: it comes from the Wang Yi-Xin collection, formed in the 1930’s and 1940’s; the characters are all perfectly sharp as I expect from coins cast while Wang Mang was in power; the patina is exactly what I look for in genuine coins; where the patina has gaps shows the “black mercury” fabric common to Wang Mang’s coins; there are scrapes on the head from where the patina was forcefully removed to expose the gold inlay; and there is still a little bit of patina covering the gold inlay, which strongly suggests that the gold is original to the coin and not replaced as is often seen.

Another interesting thing I have noticed on this coin is that there are a couple significant rim bumps on the reverse. As the patina is not broken, I would think that they were there when the coin was buried. I like to think that its owner threw these coins at a wall (or some similarly-hard object) out of fury when hearing that they were made worthless. With that said, I wonder about who owned this coin and what happened to him/her. It had to be someone in the upper class as they had to have had at least two ounces of gold to trade for this knife. But I guess it will forever be a mystery, but one that is fun to think about.

The rim bumps I am talking about are along the upper rim of the handle.



Oh, and sorry for the huge wall of text. :/ This story is just too much fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

References:

http://www.anythinganywhere.com/info/tye/Wang Mang.htm

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/emperor-wang-mang-chinas-first-socialist-2402977/

http://calgarycoin.com/reference/china/china2.htm#interregnum

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Mang

 

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Great post!! Maybe refer to this one as a Great Wall of text?

 

Some further commentary:

I mentioned how I would touch on the debate on whether the fiat monies were denominated in zhu or cash. The Wang Mang records simply do not state what base unit these coins have, for example a value-500 coin was simply stated to have a value of 500, not 500 of something. Because the records do not say “cash,” or wu (5) zhus, some think that the value is simply zhu. But the records do not state “zhu” either. This could be because that Wang Mang was trying to limit all references to the Wu Zhus to make them as illegitimate as possible. Maybe he thought that saying his coin is worth 500 wu zhus would give some legitimacy to the coins he was trying to eradicate. Who knows...

Let’s look at the coins themselves. If the Xiao Quan Zhi Yi was denominated 1 zhu with the weight of 1 zhu (around 0.65g), then it would have been the only coin to have circulated and probably would have been hoarded as well since it was “hard” currency. This would have had the opposite effect of what Wang Mang was trying to accomplish in getting all of his coins to circulate. With this in mind. It seems perfectly reasonable that Wang Mang’s coins were denominated in Wu Zhus.

In addition, there is an interssting little coin that may shed some light on this mystery. There is a tiny wu zhu that has both the fabric of Western Han coins and Wang Mang coins. These are called “chicken eye” wu zhus because of their size and are generally attributed to the Wei dynasty. Comparing this coin to a Western Han wu zhu, you can see similarities in the calligraphy, particularly the the squared “shoulders” of the Zhu. That style was generally used only in the Western Han Dynasty, but it did reappear from time to time during later periods. In the hoards of Eastern Han and later wu zhus I have gon through, the shoulders are almost always curved.

Also, the coins have the “black mercury” sheen to them, just like Wang Mang’s coins. It is possible that Wang Mang tried to restandardize the Wu Zhu to around a 1-zhu standard, but there are no records saying this happened, plus the coins are far too common to just be a minor trial. The style and size makes sense for the era (as Robert Tye and Bob Reis tend to believe), but the evidence from the records (or lack thereof) suggests otherwise. I do not know about the archaeological evidence surrounding these coins. Thoughts @Ken Dorney @AnYangMan @Sallent



And one more thing. You can see how the style Wang Mang chose for his spades was likely directly influenced by the Dang Jin spades of the Chu state.

 

I guess so

 

Now that, is really cool @TypeCoin971793 !

 

Great writeup and some fascinating pieces. Thanks for this.

 

Ju Mu or 'Chicken Eye' coins are also frequently called E Yan, or 'Goose Eye'. The most current research in China shows these to be funerary coins. They began use in the Western Han in the First century BC under the Emperor Wu Di. So far excavations of graves show none being buried or 'used' after the Han, and nothing in Xin burials, so it is assumed they were used prior to Wang Mang. They are interesting, and typically range from roughly 10-13mm or so and averaging about half a gram. I have one myself, 11mm, .46 grams:



I also have an example of the Qi Dao Wu Bai (cant find the photo, I'd have re-shoot it), but with the lower 'key' portion removed (erroneously so-called due to their resemblance to modern keys). This is something which is more common than complete examples which seems to indicate that the general public, while despising the reform, was indeed using it.

 

Here is my Qi Dao...you can see from the edge that the blade was meticulously removed then the edge properly filed. This leads me to the theory that they were done either officially or semi-officially. It seems unlikely that the general public would put forth such an effort to alter most of the circulating examples themselves.

 

One last thing. A very good reference on the series by Wang Mang is "The Numismatic Legacy of Wang Mang AD 9-23", by Heinz Gratzer and A. M. Fishman. I dont always agree with them on certain aspects but still very good reading. I disagree in general on their classification of weights and measurements (I dont think half a gram and 1mm in diameter merits a separate type, and certainly doesn't bump it from "Common" to "Rare". Also, rosette holes are certainly not a type and should not merit an entry as such.

 

I do not collect this area but really enjoyed the post!! Fascinating story!

 

I agree. I have read their book, but it happens to be on the other side of the Atlantic right now, so :/

 

Good stuff - this is like a tuition-free online class in Numismatics 302

 

Great job. Without you. I'm not sure if many of us members would be enlightened with this type of collection. My hats off to you to being unique and one of the most deversed coin collector with coin talk. Don't go away. Your field is amazing

 

Excellent post @TypeCoin971793, I would give it multiple likes if I could.
Here's my small collection of Wang Mang coins. On my example of the cut-down Qi Dao knife, you can still see part of the Wu character on what's left of the blade:

 

Did you type all or some of this info. How do you find the time. You kicked butt on that one. You do this for us members.

 

Oh. Sent this before i was even done. Boy i hope we dont miss your birthday

 

Ken. Nice to see tinman. Nice icon

 

I typed it all. I even cut back some of the gritty details on Mang’s brilliant manipulation of the system to get into power. My classes basically ended on Thursday, so I found time do do a writeup I had been wanting to do for a while.

 

Thanks for the fun read!

 

Nice write up @TypeCoin971793 !

I've got 2 wangs!