Dai Zhiqiang: Several Factors Determining the Value of Coin Cultural Relics

The “Classification Standard for Cultural Relic Collections” promulgated by the Ministry of Culture in April 2001 stipulates: “Collections of cultural relics are divided into precious cultural relics and general cultural relics. Precious cultural relics are divided into grades I, II, and III. Representatives with particularly important historical, artistic, and scientific values. Cultural relics are first-class cultural relics, those with important historical, artistic, and scientific values ​​are second-class cultural relics, those with more important historical, artistic, and scientific values ​​are relics of the third grade, and those with certain historical, artistic, and scientific values ​​are general cultural relics. "This is the yardstick for determining the value of cultural relics. It is also the general principle that should be followed to determine the value of cultural relics.

According to the above-mentioned principle, in combination with the characteristics of coins, when determining the value of coins, the following points need us to pay attention and properly grasp.

I. Outline of the Difference between Outline Money and Version Money Money refers to a period of time or a representative work of a certain type of coin. In particular, casting time is not long and there are few remains, but in the history of coins, or in a certain academic field The numismatic currency that has an important position in it, with which it can illustrate a history, prove a fact, solve a puzzle. For example, the first money cast after the successor of the Western Han Dynasty, the “Sankei” money, should belong to the Outline Money. Because the "Sanzhao" money was the first practice of Han Wudi's currency reform (the year of the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, 140 BC), it broke the custom of setting the name of the coin money as "half two" after the Qin Shihuang. Second, the "Sankei" money is an important part of China's early exploration of the unit weight standard of coins, and it is determined that the unit weight of each money will be weighed five times (4 grams today). Weak) Accumulated experience. Thirdly, the “three evils” money is also an important practice in the reform of the money casting process. It changed the custom of “half two” money not casting out the outline of the money, because of the “three evils” money that casts out the outline. Only with the later “half-two” money, did you have the money with the Tongbao “five money” and only then had the system of so-called red money (lateral) money. After the coin was coined, it had to pass through the net. Polished system. Therefore, although the "three evils" money is a very short period of time, it enjoys an important position in the history of Chinese coins.

At the Guardian's spring auction in 2005, Liao’s early ancient coins “along with Tongbao”, with a transaction price of RMB 550,000, created the highest record in ancient Chinese coin auction history. There are many factors that contribute to the high price of “combining with Tongbao” money to sell. One of the important reasons is that it is an outline of money. Because of its discovery, making up for a gap in the early years of the Liao Dynasty's early years of the Liao Dynasty can help us to correctly understand that the early Liao Dynasty's early years had become a system, but the number of coins for each year is very small. Only the symbolic casting of money, its political intentions are much greater than the practical value of being a currency, so it enjoys a special status in the history of currency, which is different from other minor products and different from other minor differences. In addition to the “association” of money, the early years of Liao’s money, including Tianzan, Tianxian, Tianlu, Yingli, Baoning, Tonghui, and Tongbao’s money were all almost orphan or treasures, and they all belonged to the program. The list of money.

The so-called category money refers to coins of the same type with different calligraphy, different production, and different layouts. It is only the difference between the small layouts, and some of them have few remains. Their existence, of course, also has important cultural value, but compared with the outline money. Its influence and significance are inconceivable.

Second, sample money, ancestral money (carving mother money), the difference between mother money and child money According to historical records, ancient China's ancient sand cast money will generally have the following procedures: First, to report the kind of money, level by level, until the emperor, known as Was kind of money. The second is that according to the sample money approved by the Royal Government, the competent department will cast the standard sample money and distribute it to each casting bureau (supervisor), which is called the sample sample money. The third is that each casting bureau (supervisor) produces sample money in accordance with the department's sample money. It is generally first carved out of the fathers and mothers, also known as carving mothers, and then carved mother money money, also known as cast mother. Carving mother's money and casting mother's money are money models used to make sand and cast money. The former is the original model and the latter is the working model. The fourth is the money model, that is, the conversion and production of the mother's money, also known as the child money, that is, the official issuance of coins for circulation. Differentiating between sample money, ancestral money, mother money, and child money is an important part of money identification. In addition to copper samples, there are also different textures such as tooth samples, jade samples, and wood samples. However, the amount of money is very small. Under normal circumstances, they should all be classified as first-class cultural relics. The bronze medals presented by the ministers in the clear money are now relatively wide and relatively thick. They are different from the ordinary ones. There are not many relics of sample money and cast mother money. The former will be more natural than the former. Therefore, it is necessary to make decisions based on specific circumstances. In general, it should also be a cultural relic of more than two grades. The ancestral money is the original model. There are very few survivors, of course, precious cultural relics. Sub-currency is a common currency, and the number of remains is usually relatively large, and the value of cultural relics will be relatively low.

Third, the difference between the version formed in the process of designing and casting and the variation caused by circulation and distribution. In the identification of coins, attention should be paid to the slight differences between versions. There are several situations in which there are differences in the version of the same name coin:

One is coins of the same name that were minted in different eras and regions. After the Tang and Song dynasties, some coins of the same name were minted in different eras and regions. For example, “Kaiyuan Tongbao” money was the main currency of the Tang Dynasty, but at certain times after the Tang Dynasty, “Kaiyuan” money was also coined, such as the 10 countries. Nantang, Wuyueheyu, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s peasant uprisings have all been cast. Another example is "Taiping Tongbao" money is a coin of the Northern Song Dynasty Taizong Period, but at certain times after the Song Dynasty, it also cast "Tai Ping" money, such as when the Qing Taiping Heavenly Kingdom peasant uprising had once cast. For coins of the same name cast in these different periods, because the time is far apart, the casting period of early money and post-casting money is in a different era. Therefore, the marking of the era reflected in coins is relatively obvious, and relatively speaking, it is relatively easy to distinguish. Coins of the same name that were minted in different regions, even coins of the same name that were minted in different countries, such as Japan, North Korea, and Vietnam in East and Southeast Asian countries and regions, had allegedly embossed Chinese ancient coins, including ancient times of the Tang, Song and Ming periods. Money, because it is a foreign country's imitation castings, its charm is naturally different. Even if it is used to cast Chinese ancient coins as a model, its material, weight, and casting process will also be different, and it will leave a mark on the coins. So it is relatively easy to distinguish. The coins of the same name that were minted in different eras and regions have certainly not the same cultural heritage value.

The second is that the same type of coin of the same type in the same time also has a layout difference. The layout of similar coins is often subtle, and they are not only an important part of the identification of coins, but also a relatively large part of the identification of coins, and are directly related to the cultural value of coins. For example, the Northern Song Dynasty prevailed in the “Year of the Year” system, prevailed in the “for money” system, and the money bureau (supervisor) was well-established. The changes in the Xing and Abandonment were erratic. Although the central dynasty had standard sample money, there were also strict alloy ratios and process regulations. However, when the money prisoners around the country sculpted and turned their mothers money, due to the differences in the techniques of the craftsmen, subtle differences would inevitably arise. This would lead to different layouts of coins of the same name. Different layout money will have different cultural heritage values ​​due to different casting sites, different casting periods, different casting amounts and different amounts of remains. For example, in the “Song of the Song Dynasty” in the Northern Song Dynasty, there is a type of money called “Wood Song” (ordinary “Sung Song” written in money, and the word “Song” is not a wooden block.); “Xuanhe Tongbao” money. There is a giant "Xuanhe" (the money has a large text, especially the four-word head.) The boxes of "Bao" and "Xuanhe" (Chen Wen "Bao" are circular.) and many more. These types of differences are all formed during the coin design and casting process. For the coin casting and casting period studies, they are all important physical data, and there are few remains, so they are examples of precious cultural relics.

The third is the “layout” difference caused by the circulation, use, and even handing down of the coins after the coins were issued. Under normal circumstances, the typographical variation, wear, and damage that are formed after the issuance of coins should not belong to the issue of the edition of coins, nor the value of cultural relics. Therefore, the appraisal of numismatic versions must distinguish the reasons and different natures of their formation before they can make a correct judgment on the value of their cultural relics.

In history, money used to be used as the official circulation of money, or the concept can be expanded, is understood as: "money" cast for the needs of money, they are the main subject of ancient money, and the money scholars call it "positive." Supplies". Of course, the positive supplies should be taken seriously. Among the historical supplies left over from generation to generation, there are indeed many precious coins. The above-mentioned outline funds are mostly of this nature. However, ordinary articles such as Han's ordinary "Five Scorpions" money, Tang's ordinary "Kaiyuan Tongbao" money, Qing's ordinary dragon grain silver dollar, **'s ordinary grandchildren, Yuan like silver coins, etc., are all enjoyed in the history of Chinese currency. Extremely important position. They have become the country’s main circulation currency for a long historical period. They both enjoy an important position from the perspective of currency history and academic research. Therefore, they are exhibited in museums and in particular in collections and exhibitions of coin museums. Both are indispensable basic cultural relics. However, because there are too many people in existence, it cannot be too high from the perspective of the value of cultural relics.

In addition to positive supplies, there are “money” not cast for the needs of money, such as Kyrgyzstan’s money, town’s money, money, money, money, money, money, and so on. Family collectively referred to as "pressure (weariness) wins money", also known as "non-normal supplies." These “money” are not currencies and cannot perform the functions of money. However, their materials, forms, and casting techniques are all in the same category as currency. Among them, the fine items are also derived from the money supervision set up by the government, which is the so-called “Official Furnace”. Therefore, from a cultural point of view, they and their contemporaries are mint brothers, and they should be derivatives of currency culture. As coin collectors and researchers, they also collect and study together with the positive supplies. This is not only true in China, but also in foreign countries. Therefore, the numismatic museums in the West are called coins and chapter museums. The departments that collect and study numismatic coins are called coins and chapters.

Judging from the remains of the situation, most of the pressure on winning the money is based on folk crafts, but there are also exquisite products among them, especially the fine products cast by the official furnace, which have high artistic value and academic value, and can even represent the era. The advanced technology of casting money represents the local style of casting money and reflects the local folk customs at that time. Therefore, there are also many valuable products with high cultural relics and even high prices. Such as: the Western Han Dynasty Dou Tomb unearthed in the Palace of Music and money, is so far, has been found in China's earliest wine order money; Tang Song official furnace casting mazing money boutique, fully reflects the casting process technology at that time, with high The artistic value; Liao Dynasty's “Great Comfort for Six Years” to save money, both absolute years, but also can fully reflect the special style of Liao Qian production, but also illustrate the unique funeral customs of Liao Dynasty, and so on, are all over the money The outline of the money, has a high value of cultural relics.

Positive and non-genuine supplies are only differences in nature and function. From the perspective of cultural relics, there is no distinction between them, so they cannot be generalized. When determining the value of their cultural relics, scientific judgments can only be made based on actual conditions.

Fifth, the difference between official money casting, local casting money, and private casting money Official money casting refers to coins that were cast by the royal family or the central government directly under the money bureau (monitoring). However, in the history of Chinese coinage, the problem of private casting has always existed, and in various historical periods, the policy of private casting is not the same. Sometimes private money is allowed to be used. For example, in the early Han Dynasty, the so-called hill-rolling of money actually permitted local casting. The money was allowed to be privately cast. The private casting money at that time could be freely used as a currency for circulation in the market. During the Tang Dynasty, private casting was forbidden. The government forced the casting of a few shots, and many concrete measures were implemented. The phenomenon of private casting has not been eliminated and there are still remains. Private casting of money is naturally profitable. Its most important means are cutting corners, cutting costs, and creating bad money. Therefore, the private casting of money and official casting of money, including local casting of money, are not only of different quality, but also reflect different levels of craftsmanship. The value of cultural relics between them will naturally differ. However, the cultural value of money is sometimes not entirely determined by its own quality. After Ruan Tanghui (841-846) allowed local casting of money, the quality of local cast money was much less than that of Kaiyuantongbao during the Tang Dynasty. Historically known as “Huichang Kaiyuan”, but Huichang Kaiyuan, some due to partial casting There are fewer remains and fewer remains. For example, if the word "Yong" (abbreviation of Sichuan Yongpingjian) is the representative of the party who cast money in the late Tang Dynasty and there are few remains, the value of the cultural relics will naturally be much higher than the ratio. It is much more beautiful, but there are a large number of remains of the ordinary Tang Kaiyuan money. Another example is the set of “Guanzi” lead plates found in the East of Anhui Province. It was identified as a pseudo-version of the private seal of the Southern Song Dynasty. Although it is a pseudo-version, it is the only relic of the Southern Song Dynasty that can be seen currently. So it still has extremely high academic value and cultural value.

The artistic charm of money can only be fully reflected when it is good. Although there are a large number of ordinary coins, most of them have been used in circulation in the society, so it is very difficult to maintain their full appearance. The size of the common currency is not large, and the decoration is simple. If the corrosion is serious, it is difficult to reflect its historical value and artistic value. Therefore, the quality of coins will directly affect the value of their cultural relics. The same money, which is particularly exquisite can be protected as a precious collection of cultural relics, on the contrary, because of serious damage to the product, it may not be with "precious" artifacts. However, the quality of the coin must be comparable in the same type of coin, not the same type of coin, and there is no comparability. As mentioned above, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty Kaiyuan and the late Tang Kaiyuan cannot be established. A standard comparison.

VII. The difference between the number of deposits and the level of rarity There are common coins that have been used as circulation currency in a certain historical period. There are still a large number of remains. Therefore, the value of their cultural relics is not high, but there are certain or even Important historical status, so collectors do not need to spend much money, they can collect common dynasties coins. However, in coins, there are also rare and valuable products that have both historical value, artistic value, and scientific value. They are worthy of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of treasures and famous products, as well as unruly orphans. Because coins have such characteristics, they can satisfy collectors from different classes and needs, from ordinary people, including workers, peasants, soldiers, students, large intellectuals, giant merchants, and government officials. The key members, who have hobbies and collect coins, can go from shallow to deep, from elementary to advanced, and get better. For the collection of coins, not only the largest number of private collections, even in museum collections, the number of coins is also the largest number of coins as a precious cultural relics into the possession of the types and quantity of coins are also in the minority.

Things are rare and valuable. This is a widely accepted concept. However, the amount of remains of coins is only a general concept. The situation is different for each type of coin. Due to different historical periods and different social environments, some numismatic coins are either short in casting period or small in circulation; or in special circumstances, they only cast sample money, have not been issued in large quantities, or have not been issued at all, and they have changed course; or As a result of the war and other reasons, some coins still remain scarce and have become orphaned and unscrupulous. Even in the coins that are commonly found in the Song and Qian money and other people, there are also such phenomena. Similarly rare treasures, such as the “Song of the Song Dynasty” in the Northern Song Dynasty, have a stack of nine stacks of books. The body of Xiao Ping Qian (The nine stacks of books are used for the official Indian seals, as Qian Wen, only one example.), “Yuan Feng Tong Bao” money has a small Ping Li book money (common Yuan Feng money, Qian Wenduo is running or篆 字体 字体 字体 字体 字体 字体 字体 字体 字体 。 。. This may be the charm of coin collection and research.

The same is ancient money, which is a reputational product at a certain level. However, people's attention will not be the same, and the value of “one knife and five thousand” will not be the same. For example, the knife coin coined during the period of Wang Hao was "a knife with a flat level of 5,000," and it was produced neatly with a unique shape. In particular, the word "one knife" was inlaid with gold and sought after by literati and literati. It enjoyed a high reputation and became a collection of coins. The popularity of the popular collection, so its market price tends to exceed other coins of the same class. On the contrary, some treasures, although they have high cultural value, are not recognized by people, so that people do not understand or pay attention to it, and their market prices cannot go up. In this kind of similar situation, in ancient coins, there are coins in the mechanism, and coins of all categories will exist. This is the effect of external influences and social influences. It can be seen from this that the cultural value of money and its market price tend to be biased and not necessarily identical.

During the period when the collection of cultural relics was booming, the cultural relics market was booming and became a hot spot for social attention. The prices of cultural relics continued to rise. When the collection of cultural relics cools down and tends to a low tide, the cultural relics market is sluggish and nobody cares. The prices of cultural relics also go down. Coins as a category of cultural relics will also be ups and downs due to the influence of the big situation. This is a trend of the value of cultural relics from a macro perspective and will be influenced by society. From a microscopic point of view, the cultural relics of different categories are also different in different periods and regions. It will change with the degree of social concern. In terms of coins, sometimes the ancient coins became popular. After a period of time, gold and silver coins were favored, and then the banknotes became popular. Even the same type of coins would have different hot spots in different periods and regions. This is also a social influence and the outside world. The role.

In short, when determining the value of numismatic cultural relics, we must take into consideration various factors and make a comprehensive analysis in order to be accurate and accurate.