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Auction: CSS92C - THE PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC REFERENCE COLLECTION OF THE LATE DR. WERNER BURGER - Part 3: Chinese Charms
Lot: 2485

China: Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE), coin-shaped charm with circular hole, obverse inscribed 'Zheng he tong bao', reverse inscribed 'Tai ping xiao da', 22.3*1.4mm, 4.5g, Zhong Qian 65, labelled as Yuan Dynasty. Note: This charm is extremely rare, with only three known specimens so far, including this one. While its exact use or function remains unknown, this charm is one of the most noted in Chinese coinage. It is first recorded and published in Gu quan hui authored by Li Zuoxian and first published in the third year of Tong Zhi Reign (1864 CE). In Volume II of Book Zhen, Li includes the rubbing of the same type inscribed Zheng he tong bao on the obverse and Tai ping xiao da on the reverse. The same page includes a variation inscribed Tai ping xiao da on the obverse and Wang on the reverse. See Figure blow. The next known specimen of the same charm was in the collection of Zhang Shuxun, the biggest collector of Chinese coins in Shanghai during the Republican Period. Zhang left Shanghai for the United States in 1948 and took his favouriate coins with him, including Tai ping xiao da. After his death, his wife sold the coins in 1950 to J.T. Tai, who sold them on to Arthur Sackler. The pieces remained in the custody of J. T. Tai & Company Foundation, Inc. until 2015 when Arthur Sackler's daughter, Elizabeth Sackler took claim. These coins, including the Tai ping xiao da, are now in her collection. See article written by Zhou Bian entitled "The Whereabouts of the coins in the collection of Zhang Shuxun, pp 29-34, in The Journal of East Asian Numismatics, Special Taiwan Edition, Volume 3, 2022.


政和通寶圓穿花錢，背太平小打，宋朝（公元960–1279），22.3*1.4mm，重4.5g，中乾65，標籤元朝。此錢極罕，迄今僅見三枚，包括布氏這枚。儘管實際用途不明，但為中國錢幣之珍罕品種。清代錢幣學家李佐賢著有《古泉匯》一書，同治三年（公元1864）出版。該書之貞集卷二刊載此錢拓片一枚，面文“政和通寶”，背文“太平小打”。同頁另有“太平小打”背“王”錢一枚。見上圖。此為其一。民國時期，上海錢幣大收藏家張叔馴亦藏有一枚，為其心愛之物。張1938年移居國外，1946年專程返滬，精選藏品約二千枚攜往美國，太平小打即為其一。張去世後，該錢由其遺孀徐懋倩女士於1950年售予大古董商戴福保，戴之後將其轉售美國著名收藏家亞瑟 · 薩克勒（Arthur Sackler），但這批一直由紐約戴福保基金會（J. T. Tai & Company Foundation, Inc.）保管至2015年12月，現由亞瑟 · 薩克勒的女兒伊莉莎白·薩克勒（Elizabeth Sackler）持有並收藏。有關詳情，參見周邊“張叔馴攜美古錢的經歷與歸宿”一文，發表於《東亞泉志》二零二二年第三期台灣特別版第29-34頁，這枚太平小打的彩色照片收錄其中。

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Starting price
HK$10000