There are many dragon-themed collections in Conghua folk, which are scattered in ceramics, jade plates, stone carvings, Chinese paintings, and coins. In the Year of the Dragon, the author visited Mr. Chen Zhuming, the former president of the Conghua District Collectors Association, to see his collection of Warring States Double Dragon Coins.
Twin dragon head coins
Chairman Chan is 66 years old and has been a collector since he was a child. Over the decades, it has collected a variety of collections such as bronzes, pottery, silverware, jade, etc., especially the numismatic collection. The coin in President Chen's collection is a double-dragon coin of the Lu State during the Warring States Period. It is made of bronze and has a layer arch bridge shape. It is 10 centimeters long and two centimeters wide. The coin has a dragon head with a large mouth open at each end, and the body is decorated with stripes. According to Chairman Chen, the double-dragon head coin is cast from bronze alloy on a clay mold, which has a hard texture. The clay mold can only be cast once and cannot be reused.
Before Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, there were a variety of coins in each country, and they could only be circulated in their own countries. After Qin Shi Huang unified the country in 221 BC, he unified the currency, which was the "Qin half tael" with round square holes. Since then, the ancient Chinese numismatic style with round square holes has been followed for more than 2,000 years, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, under the influence of Western coins, copper plates and other coin patterns appeared. These copper plates were cast by the provinces, and the backs of the vast majority of them were depicted with dragon motifs. From dragon head coins to dragon pattern coins, it has witnessed the evolution of Chinese coins for more than 2,000 years and has high cultural value.
Text: Yu Weiwen Chen Yuyu
Image: Li Xiaotong, Yu Weiwen, Chen Yuyu
Editor: Mo Jingxian
Preliminary review: Liu Fang
Review: Wang Ruijun