Posted on 11/17/2023 12:00:30 PM PST by Red Badger
Archaeologists Have Uncovered Over 100,000 Ancient Coins During Excavations In Maebashi City, Japan.
The discovery was made during construction works of a new factory in Sojamachi district, where a cache of over 100,000 coins was found in 1,060 bundles.
According to the researchers, an analysis of 334 coins in the cache shows a “remarkable diversity”, encompassing 44 distinct currency types.
The coins have origins that mainly span from China’s Western Han Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, with the most notable being Ban Liang coins. Ban Liang coins were introduced by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, as China’s first unified currency around 210 BC, and continued to be used under the Western Han dynasty until they were replaced by the Wu Zhu cash coins in 118 BC.
The oldest of the Ban Liang coins has been dated to 175 BC and has a diameter of 2.3 centimetres, a 7-millimetre square hole in the centre, and is inscribed with “liang” (an old Chinese unit of weight) on the left and “ban” on the right.
The most recent coin in the cache dates from AD 1265 during the Southern Song Dynasty period. At this time, the Song Dynasty lost control over its northern territory to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty during the Jin–Song Wars, resulting in the Song court retreating south of the Yangtze River and founding a new capital in Lin’an (now known as Hangzhou).
According to an announcement by the Maebashi City Government, the coins were likely hidden for security during the Kamakura jidai, a period that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate in AD 1192.
The Kamakura jidai was a turbulent time that saw a series of conflicts against the Northern Fujiwara and invasions by the Mongols. This period is also known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.
The coins are being displayed in the “Newly Excavated Cultural Artefacts Exhibition 2023” in Maebashi City’s Otemachi district.
Maebashi City Government
Header Image Credit : Maebashi City Government
Tax man........................
Chinese coins spanning more than a thousand years. Perhaps they belonged to a collector.
Weird that they don’t say what type of metal. Silver? Bronze?
They appear to be either copper or bronze (if they are typical Chinese cash coins).
Bronze most likely...............
Tax collector maybe.
But why are they in Japan?...............
Maybe the stash belonged to an international trader or company that did business in China?
From some wikipedia research, it seems that 1000 of those coins was equivalent to a silver tael (which was approximately a British Pound sterling).
From 1600s-1700s, 4-5 of those coins would buy you about 1 pound of rice.
It looks like a spin wheel for a 3/8 Ratchet.
So ancient Japan had vending machines and pachinko parlors too, huh?
A lot of cash in that cache.
So some of those coins were over a thousand years old when collected? Amazing.
Makes you wonder what happened to the guy that buried them..................
He was a serious hoarder/collector.
A LOT of sediment over those coins.
44 different types in a sample set of only 334 coins is amazing.
Scrooge-eson................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.