Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Liang Type 4
| Issuer | Western Han Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 175 BC - 118 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.8 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 半兩 (Translation: Ban Liang, Half ounce) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The proliferation of half-liang types across the early Western Han period reflects a monetary system in genuine disorder. After the Qin collapse, casting rights fragmented — the Wen Di emperor's edict of 175 BC explicitly permitted private individuals to cast coin, flooding circulation with underweight pieces that progressively debased the currency until Wu Di finally centralized minting authority in 119–118 BC and replaced the half-liang with the wushu standard entirely.
Type 4 sits in the thinner, lighter end of the half-liang spectrum, a direct product of that debasement spiral.