The Three Kingdoms Ancient Chinese coinage

1 3 kingdoms

1.1 cao wei (222–265)
1.2 shu han (221–265)
1.3 eastern wu (222–280)

the 3 kingdoms

obverse , reverse of zhi bai wu zhu coin.

in 220, han dynasty came end, , followed long period of disunity , civil war, beginning 3 kingdoms period, developed divisions within han dynasty. these 3 states cao wei in northern china, shu han west, , eastern wu in east. period golden age of chivalry in chinese history, described in historical novel romance of 3 kingdoms. coinage reflected unsettled times, small , token coins predominating.

cao wei (222–265)

this state issued wu zhu coins.

shu han (221–265)

the coins issued state were:

zhi bai wu zhu (chinese: 直百五銖; pinyin: zhí bǎi wǔ zhū; literally: value 1 hundred wu zhu ) found incuse characters on reverse.
zhi bai (chinese: 直百; pinyin: zhí bǎi; literally: value 1 hundred ) when liu bei, later ruler of shu , 1 of heroes of romance of 3 kingdoms, took chengdu in sichuan in 214, advised issue value 1 hundred coins overcome problems of maintaining troops; hence these coins attributed him.
tai ping bai qian (chinese: 太平百錢; pinyin: tàipíng bǎi qián; literally: taiping 1 hundred cash )




the tai ping bai qian coin @ first attributed sun liang of eastern wu, adopted tai ping year title in 256. of them, however, have been unearthed in sichuan (in 1 instance in tomb dated 227) zhi bai coins, which, incuse marks on reverse, indicates issues of shu han. fancy calligraphy , reverses of large coins more typical of amulets circulating coins, , peng seeks associate them taiping taoists of time.


zhi yi (chinese: 直一; pinyin: zhí yī; literally: value 1 )
ding ping yi bai (chinese: 定平一百; pinyin: dìngpíng yībǎi; literally: ding ping 1 hundred )

in 1860s, jar of small goose eye coins dug in chengdu in sichuan. contained tai ping bai qian, ding ping yi bai, zhi bai, , zhi yi coins. reinforces supposition these coins near contemporaries, issued shu han.

eastern wu (222–280)

da quan wu bai (chinese: 大泉五百; pinyin: dàquán wǔbǎi; literally: large coin 5 hundred )
da quan dang qian (chinese: 大泉當千; pinyin: dàquán dāng qiān; literally: large coin worth thousand )
da quan er qian (chinese: 大泉二千; pinyin: dàquán èrqiān; literally: large coin, 2 thousand )
da quan wu qian (chinese: 大泉五千; pinyin: dàquán wǔqiān; literally: large coin, 5 thousand ): 6 specimens known.

according records, in 236 sun quan, ruler of wu, cast da quan wu bai, , in 238 da quan dang qian coins. people called upon hand on copper in possession , receive cash, , illicit coining discouraged. these coarse coins, cast in capital nanking or in hubei. in 2000, clay moulds , other casting materials da quan wu bai coins discovered in western lake, hangzhou.