Located in the hinterland of Chinese mainland, Shaanxi in the middle reaches of the Yellow River is one of the important birthplaces of our Chinese nation and Chinese civilization. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, more than a dozen ancient dynasties such as Qin, Han, and Tang have established capitals here. It is precisely for this reason that the surface of Shaanxi is filled with various ancient tombs.
For example, when Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, built Metro Line 2, it easily excavated 130 ancient tombs, and many historical and cultural relics were connected along the way. When you take the subway from beginning to end, you can even see the history of China for 5,000 years. A subway dug up more than 100 ancient tombs, which is not the most exaggerated.
▲ Ancient tomb excavation
In 2016, a Shaanxi farmer built a house and dug up copper coins weighing up to half a ton! Each copper coin is worth more than 10,000 yuan, has this happened to you? I can't even think about it! Here we will talk about the beginning and end of the excavation of half a ton of copper coins.
On February 27, 2016, the New Year just passed. A farmer in Nanzuo Village, Xingping City, Shaanxi Province, decided to build a house, and in order to save money, he asked relatives to help, including his brother-in-law Zhang Jianmao.
Then everyone dug the foundation for the house together, but not long after the excavation, Zhang Jianmao dug out a strange thing. This thing has a peculiar shape and is not small in size, but because of its age, it has become a "big iron knot" with an ugly appearance.
If this matter is placed in other provinces and cities, it is also a major event that can sensationalize the local cultural relics department. But for Shaanxi, it is not strange.
▲ Excavated iron lump "oven"
So several villagers worked together to pull this iron lump out of the ground, it didn't matter if it wasn't pulled, and when the iron knot was pulled out, everyone suddenly found that there was a deep black hole under the iron knot.
Then a villager brought a flashlight to take a picture of the cave, and everyone was dumbfounded, and the black hole was filled with copper coins. At a glance, it is densely packed and the number is unimaginable.
Then a bold villager jumped into the hole and used the tools in his hand to dig out some of the copper coins. After careful observation, they found that no one knew the words on the copper coin, and the shape of the copper coin was also various. There are round square holes, and there are some shovel-shaped ones.
Looking at the copper coins in their hands, the villagers knew that they were going to report it! Although the value of these copper coins is not clear, it is illegal to excavate cultural relics without permission. Subsequently, Xingping City, Shaanxi Province, quickly organized archaeologists to go to the site to excavate, and after two days and two nights of uninterrupted excavation, all the copper coins in the cave were cleared out. After passing the scale, it was found that the weight of these copper coins reached 918 pounds, nearly half a ton!
▲ Bronze coins
After the study of the copper coins, it was found that all the copper coins in the cave belonged to the Han Dynasty, and it was the "most mysterious" period of the Han Dynasty - the period of Wang Mang's chaotic government, that is, Wang Mang's new power.
After Wang Mang usurped power, he established himself as emperor, and his reign was very short, only 15 years. But what this "benevolent brother" did stunned thousands of years in the future. Everything about him seems "mysterious and precious", why is this?
Many people even think that Wang Mang is a real crosser! Some people even listed the "ten major evidences" of Wang Mang's crossing, including the introduction of low-cost housing, the establishment of a "price bureau", the invention of a very modern vernier caliper, the nationalization of land, the prohibition of land trading, the elimination of the gap between the rich and the poor, and so on.
His series of moves did not look like a Han Dynasty figure at all. It is precisely for this reason that Wang Mang has a different status and influence in history than other historical figures, which further increases the value of cultural relics and antiques in Wang Mang's period.
▲ The vernier caliper of the Wang Mang period
For example, copper coins, whether from the Song Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty of the Yuan Dynasty, the price of copper coins is mostly not high (except for a few short-lived regimes). However, the copper coins of Wang Mang's period were "sought-after goods" in the collection industry.
In the process of this excavation, archaeologists found a large number of "six springs and ten cloths". The "Six Springs and Ten Cloths" is a set of copper coins, including 6 round square hole copper coins and 10 shovel-shaped copper coins. Such a set of bronze coins can be easily sold to two or three hundred thousand.
The half-ton of ancient coins found in Nanzo Village belong to the Six Springs and Ten Cloth series. You can imagine how valuable these copper coins are, so why are the "six springs and ten cloths" so valuable? There are two reasons for this!
First of all, Wang Mang did not reign for a long time, but he carried out 4 currency reforms. Every time a new coin is minted, it is designed by Wang Mang himself, and Wang Mang is also known as the "master of ancient Chinese coinage".
▲Six springs and ten cloths
Every coin he designs is a work of art, and the pattern is impeccable. Such coins will naturally be favored by collectors when they are handed down. In addition, the "Six Springs and Ten Cloths" is extremely rare, and the so-called rarity is precious. The smaller the number of beings, the higher the value.
With the excavation of these ancient coins, archaeologists always have a question in their minds, who is the owner of these ancient coins? Why did he bury so many coins in the ground?
Being able to own so many coins is enough to show that the owner of the coin is definitely very promising. Being able to solve this puzzle is very important for archaeologists. In response to this problem, archaeologists consulted a large number of historical materials, but never found the "main lord".
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, nanzuo village did not appear to be a high-ranking official or nobleman. Although the underground of Shaanxi was full of ancient dignitaries and nobles, there was not a single one who met the conditions.
▲ Ancient copper coins
After some speculation, experts have come to a conclusion: First of all, the place where the copper coins were unearthed is not an ancient tomb, and these copper coins are not funerary products. Because apart from the copper coins, no other collections were found at the scene, not even a tomb brick. Secondly, the place where the coin was unearthed is simply a numismatic cellar.
What is coin cellaring? To put it bluntly, it is a place where coins are simply stored.
The question is, who has nothing to do to hide half a ton of copper coins under the ground and bury them so shallowly? If it was a place where a big figure in the Han Dynasty hid his money, it would definitely not be buried so shallowly.
Crucially, the coins appear disorganized when stacked. It feels like the owner of the coin hastily dug a pit, buried the coin haphazardly, and then left.
Based on these phenomena, archaeologists have given a relatively reliable hypothesis. During Wang Mang's reign, civil war was rife, and a certain big man could only choose to flee in order to escape the flames of war.
But he could not take away such a large amount of copper coins, and could only pack up some gold and silver and leave in a hurry. Under these conditions, he had to dig a large pit in a hurry, bury the copper coin, and then leave.
In fact, there is a strong evidence why experts will give such a conclusion. It is the "iron lump" that covers the entrance of the cave! After research, the "identity" of the iron knot has also been proved, which was a barbecue oven during the Han Dynasty.
Is it subverting the three views?
With the identification of the barbecue grill, everything in that year is already very clear. In order to escape, the owner of the coin hastily dug a large pit and then piled the coins in a mess in the hole. Then a barbecue grill was placed at the entrance of the cave to serve as a shelter.
▲ Han Dynasty oven
Perhaps the owner of the coin will feel that he will come back to take the copper coin after he has escaped the war. But he was killed or suffered an accident in the war, so the coins were buried in the soil for thousands of years. It was not until the villagers built houses that these precious ancient coins came to light.
Many people think that the villagers who excavated these ancient coins will definitely get rich overnight. In fact, no, since the cultural relics naturally belong to the state, but because the discovery of cultural relics has merit, it is natural to give them some rewards, as for getting rich overnight, don't think about it, or down-to-earth good!