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
Interesting. My understanding is that the rough edges were added to coins to make them harder to counterfeit.
Silver? Copper? Bronze? Gold?
Maybe I missed it but you think they might have mentioned it
COOL! I WANT ONE!
They actually found one on Oak Island, Nova Scotia…
LOL! I guess he didn’t trust banks. Maybe he WAS the bank!
Apparently they are very common. You can probably find a real one on ebay or a local coin store. Fakes are available on Aliexpress. I have a real one someplace that I bought when I was in elementary school (probably paid around $1 or so for it).
Thanks Red Badger. Nice find!
They did until the militarists took over and cracked down. There are probably other large caches of coins to be found which were buried around this same time. ;^)
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I remember seeing them at a coin show, but I don’t remember what they cost.
I do have a Roman coin I bought at a show, but it depicts a minor Roman emperor, Postamus, who was killed by his own troops.
The last time I saw cash coins in any quantity was on vacation to Hawaii when I visited a coin store. Lots of Asian coins and paper money there (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, etc) and was bargain priced compared to what it would cost in the continental US.
I spent much of my childhood in coin shops learning about fiat money, hard currency, FDR’s confiscation of gold, inflation, etc. Learned a lot of real-world knowledge i never got through many years of school and college.
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