In the late Shang Dynasty, bronze shells were also born.

In the West, the Lydians of Asia Minor are considered the inventors of metal coins.

The copper shells of the Shang Dynasty were hundreds of years earlier than the coins of the Lydians, and can be called the earliest metal coins of mankind.

As a currency, copper shells have durability and value that are more suitable for circulation.

The unwritten copper shells cast in bronze have not deviated from the original shell shape, and can be divided into hollow and solid.

The ventral surface imitates a shell to create a groove, which can be divided into two types: straight teeth or curved teeth, and the tooth pattern can be seen faintly.

The back is raised, without ornamentation.

Some have a small hole drilled in it, which is convenient for putting several shells together.

For the shell coins of the Shang Dynasty, although nearly 7000 natural seashells were unearthed at one time from the Fuhao Tomb in Yinxu, Anyang, the value of this kind of natural seashells is not very high at present, but there is not much in the collection market. more common.

Copper shells from the Shang and Zhou dynasties are hard to find in the collection market.

Because bronze at that time was still regarded as a superior material.

Those who can own bronze products are a symbol of power and wealth.

It would be a great honor for the courtiers to receive the rewarded copper shell.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, gold-wrapped shells appeared, which is to wrap a layer of extremely thin gold foil on the surface of copper shells, which is not only beautiful, but also adds value.

This is the gold-plated shell coin of the Warring States Period, which is the very conspicuous ancient gold coin that Chen Wenzhe saw at first sight.

For gilt shells, the specific production steps are to cast copper shells and then gilt the outer layer of the copper shells.

Although the gilt copper shells treated in this way have gone through vicissitudes and many places on the surface have peeled off, they still look luxurious and bright, which makes people love it.

Gilding is a kind of metal processing technology created by the ancient working people in production labor.

This process is also known as fire gold plating, gold coating, gold plating, gold plating, flowing gold, etc.

It is the technology of applying amalgam made of gold and mercury on the surface of copper ware, and then heating to evaporate the mercury so that the gold is firmly attached to the surface of the copper ware without falling off.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it seems that the gilding technology was not yet mastered.

Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, the ancients had mastered this craft during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.

For example, in the cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Guan Chu in Changtai, Xinyang, the shapes of "ding" and gilded copper belt hooks have the style characteristics of the early Warring States period.

In Beihe Mancheng, the "Chu Daguan Zaozhong" unearthed from the tomb of King Jing of Zhongshan, Liu Sheng, has quite mature gilding technology.

Therefore, some experts and scholars believe that the initial time of the gilding process should be set at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period or the early Warring States Period.

Gilt shells are rarely traded in the market at present, because there are not many surviving ones, and they are rarely released, so many collectors who have played with coins for many years have not seen the real ones.

Therefore, gilt shells have a certain status and sense of mystery in the minds of many Tibetan friends, and their collection value is self-evident.

The second rare gold coin must be the Chu gold coin.

Don't think that it seems that there is a nest anywhere in the country. Even if Chen Wenzhe checks the collection of a group of tomb robbers, he can find a large number of them, so he thinks there are a lot of them.

In fact, compared to other gold coins, Chu gold coins are really rare.

Chu gold coins are the earliest gold coins in our country. They were cut and weighed when they were used, so the ones found now are basically incomplete!

A whole set of gold coins is still rare, so it's no wonder the group of tomb robbers were reluctant to sell them.

This is gold after all, even if you are afraid of being found out to be ancient coins, you can melt them into ordinary gold bars and sell them.

It can be said that storing these gold coins can be done with both hands, so why not do it?

In addition to these two kinds of gold coins, there is also a very famous but rare gold coin in the Song Dynasty, which is a kind of Chunhua Yuanbao carrying a golden Buddha that Chen Wenzhe had obtained before.

The gold coins of Chunhua Yuanbao carrying Buddha statues were found in Wutai Mountain, Xishan Mountain. They were offered money for the royal family in the year of Chunhua, and they are rarely circulated.

This gold coin is about 24 mm in diameter and weighs about 12 grams.

There is too little money circulating now, and there are many fakes!

The things Chen Wenzhe saw were naturally not fakes, and there were quite a lot of gold coins in the Northern Song Dynasty.

It turned out that Chen Wenzhe bought a whole set from the prodigal son of Haihai City, but this time, what he saw was a lot of gold coins.

There were many gold coins in the Song Dynasty, but there were more gold, silver and copper coins with collection value.

For example, "Chunhua Yuanbao" and "Yushuqian", the real books imply official meaning, the style of writing is steady, thick and dignified, and the writing power is implicit.

The strokes and cursive stippling are flying, the brush is like a dragon and a snake, smooth and elegant, relaxed and relaxed, like a galloping horse, elegant and elegant in the Jin and Song Dynasties.

Looking at his Qian Wen, you can especially see the graceful and graceful ladies, with charming dancing postures, plump and vigorous, giving people the enjoyment of beauty, which is endless aftertaste.

Chunhua Yuanbao is a kind of coin in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was minted in the first year of Chunhua (990 A.D.) of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. There are three kinds of gold, copper and iron.

It can also be divided into Xiaoping, Zheshiliang and other money.

The ten-fold iron coin was minted by Zongzheng Shaoqing Zhao Anyi in the second year of Chunhua in the states of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

According to historical records, when this kind of iron money was minted, it stopped at only one year old.

This is because the foundry is too expensive, so the amount of money in Chunhua Yuanbao is very small, and it is one of the folk money, which is especially worthy of our attention.

Let's talk about the kind of gold coins on the back of the Buddha. In the spring of 1988, people found more than 2000 pieces in the temple tower of Mount Wutai.

The money is as big as Xiaoping, with one figure on the left and one on the right on the back.

The "Chunhua Yuanbao" written in the scriptures are all rotated, divided into three scripts: Li, Xing, and Cao, all of which are imperial pens.

There is another kind of official script, which gathers at three points next to the word "Chun" and "Shui", so the numismatic circles call it "shrinking Chunhua", and its casting volume is very small.

The three-body script of Chunhua Yuanbao is also called "three-body set of money".

In the spring of 1988, a construction team in Fuping County, who was repairing the Yanjiao Temple on the top of Wutai Mountain, unearthed several batches of Chunhua Yuanbao coins under the base of the tower.

At that time, it was snatched up by those present one after another, and a total of 1343 (1341 according to another) were recovered afterwards.

There are also some scattered money. It is said that at the beginning, the things in the hands of domestic and foreign collectors and spring merchants were suspicious of handicrafts.

By the time the news of Wutai's excavation spread, most of the money on the market had already been taken away by the prophets.

Soon after, counterfeit products appeared in Xiangjiang and the mainland.

For more than ten years, Chunhua's money has been floating in the springs and cities at home and abroad, so it is inevitable to mislead it.

In 2020, the gold offering money of "Three Buddhas" on the back of a "Chunhua Yuanbao" won the first place in the coin auction.

The inscription on the face of this coin is "Chunhua Yuanbao", and "eight" is engraved on the lower part of the front outer Guo.

There are three statues of Buddha cast on the back of the coin. Judging from their sitting posture, it is speculated that they should be the three saints of Huayan, also known as the three statues of Sakyamuni.

Above the perforation is the main statue "Vairocana Buddha", sitting on the lotus throne in knotted lotus, and applying the "Dharma seal".

The Buddha statues on the left and right of the mouth are the two Bodhisattvas "Manjusri" and "Puxian".

The overall picture constitutes a picture of "the two Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra assist Sakyamuni Dharmakaya in preaching scriptures".

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