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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TypeCoin971793, post: 3059121, member: 78244&quot;]Some further commentary:</p><p><br /></p><p>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...</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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 [USER=76086]@Ken Dorney[/USER] [USER=87271]@AnYangMan[/USER] [USER=76194]@Sallent[/USER] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]767021[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]767019[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]767020[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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