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1 Jin Chang Yuan - State of Liang

Issuer State of Liang
Year 350 BC - 220 BC
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Orientation Variable alignment ↺
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Obverse description Circular cast bronze disc with a central round perforation, bearing four archaic Chinese seal-script characters arranged around the hole in the field. The inscription reads 長垣一斤 (Chang Yuan Yi Jin), denoting the place name Chang Yuan and the weight denomination of one Jin. The characters are rendered in the angular, linear style typical of Warring States period bronze coinage, cast in relief against an otherwise unadorned, flat field. The surface displays a coarse, granular texture characteristic of sand-cast production, with extensive green and brown patination consistent with ancient burial. No rim decoration or border elements are present.
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Edge Plain
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The Chang Yuan ("long garden") spade coinage of the Liang state circulated during the Warring States period, when dozens of competing polities issued their own bronze money with little pretense of interoperability. Each state's currency functioned as an instrument of fiscal control within its own territory — acceptance elsewhere was negotiated, not assumed. The Liang issues are among the more localized varieties, associated with the Wei state's capital region near modern Anyang.

Hartill 6.6 specifically identifies the place-name inscription as a distinguishing attribution point within a closely related cluster of hollow-handle spades.

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