Lead Coins of the Northern Song Dynasty of China

[zanzi]

I recently bought these four coins. They were listed on eBay by a Japanese seller with further provenance from a reputable Chinese dealer, Zhou Diye of Diye's Coin Shop. They are lead cast coins of the Northern Song Dynasty. The usage of lead for these is very unusual, with few other examples published anywhere online. The English standard work Cast Chinese Coins by David Hartill makes no mention of any Northern Song coin cast in lead. Their typical coins come in either bronze or iron, so these are quite peculiar. The few examples online of these that I have found are all on Zeno.ru. I posted my four coins on Zeno.ru. There are scattered mentions of a large hoard of lead cash like this which was found in southern China, but hard details are not available. I have nothing further to add to solve this mystery, but wanted to share these rarities here anyways. It should be noted that the dates attached are for the bronze coins. It is possible these lead coins were recast pieces of a later date, although the mineralization and patina makes it obvious they are not too much later. In my opinion, they date to the Northern Song period so I think the dates are pretty accurate, if maybe a few decades early.

 

China, Northern Song Dynasty.
Lead cash coin
998-1004 AD
Xian Ping Yuan Bao. 3.5 grams. 22.5mm - 33.0mm - 1.1mm
Zeno.ru 340973

 

China, Northern Song Dynasty.
Lead cash coin
1008-1017 AD
Xiang Fu Tong Bao. 3.5 grams. 23.4mm - 23.3mm - 1.2mm
Zeno.ru 340972

 

China, Northern Song Dynasty.
Lead cash coin
1086-1094 AD
Yuan You Tong Bao. 3.4 grams. 22.0mm - 22.4mm - 1.1mm
Zeno.ru 340971

 

China, Northern Song Dynasty.
Lead cash coin
1086-1094 AD
Yuan You Tong Bao. 3.8 grams. 22.5mm - 22.7mm - 1.3mm
Zeno.ru 340970

 

 

Thank you for reading. I know the coins are not too attractive but the mystique of these lead cash interested me. I encourage anyone to share their own lead coins, or Chinese cash coins here if they would like. I love to look at Chinese cash

[shanxi]

Interesting coins ! Do you think these are local imitations like https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=256934

 

Here are two lead coins from other dynasties:

Min Kingdom

Wang Shenzi 王审知
Obv: Kai Yuan Tong Bao 開元通寶
Rev: Min 閩 and Crescent
Year: 909-945
Lead, 20.8g, 39.6mm
Ref.: Hartill 15.51, FD 739

 

Southern Han, 南汉
Liu Yan 劉巖 (917-941)
Obv: Qian Heng Zhong Bao 乾亨重寶
Rev: -
Lead, 4,44g, 27mm
Hartill 15.108, FD 826

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2024 by shanxi

[zanzi]

13 minutes ago, shanxi said:

Interesting coins ! Do you think these are local imitations like https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=256934

 

Here are two lead coins from other dynasties:

Min Kingdom

Wang Shenzi 王审知
Obv: Kai Yuan Tong Bao 開元通寶
Rev: Min 閩 and Crescent
Year: 909-945
Lead, 20.8g, 39.6mm
Ref.: Hartill 15.51, FD 739

 

Southern Han, 南汉
Liu Yan 劉巖 (917-941)
Obv: Qian Heng Zhong Bao 乾亨重寶
Rev: -
Lead, 4,44g, 27mm
Hartill 15.108, FD 826

 

 

 

 

Beautiful coins! I really love that lead Kai Yuan Tong Bao, the calligraphy is so big and bubbly. Yes I do think mine are recast, or 'local imitations', although I think something like 'private issue' is maybe more accurate. I don't think there was any area of China that these were more predominant than bronze, otherwise they should appear in larger numbers. I think that someone (or maybe a rogue mint) was minting them to make use of lead metal and try to turn a profit without so much bronze. I'm really not sure though. Bgriff uploaded a few on Zeno including the one you linked. Also there is 257219, 257413, 252738, 255629, 255311, etc. This group which I bought was the first I'd seen of lead Northern Song cash outside of Bgriff's Zeno uploads. I paid a little less than $10 a piece which is pretty high for ugly Northern Song cash but I was happy to get the lead pieces