Construction site where the kiln full of coins was uncovered (centre left) Photo/cri.cn

An ancient kiln storing several tons of copper coins dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) was uncovered by workmen in Hua County of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.

The kiln is in which they were found measured 2 metres in width and 3 metres in depth. More than 20 kinds of copper coins were found weighing in at over 3 tons.

This type of coin was threaded onto a length of cloth – hence the hole in the middle – the resulting ‘strings’ are still visible in the image below.

While the rest of the world, numismatically speaking, was still in the grips of the middle ages, China during the Northern Song period was mass producing coins of identical appearance, shape, size, and weight

The Northern Song dynasty was possibly the most prolific issuer of cash coins in the history of China. While the rest of the world, numismatically speaking, was still in the grips of the middle ages, China during the Northern Song period was mass producing coins of identical appearance, shape, size, and weight.

Tons of ancient coins found at a construction site (Photo by Zong Gongping, Xinhua News Agency)

Coins were produced not by the hundreds or thousands, but by the millions. Unlike the ancient and medieval coins of the European and Islamic worlds which exhibited variations due to their primitive production methods of striking coins by hand, Chinese ‘cash’ was cast.

The variations in calligraphy style, position of the writing relative to the rims, dimensions and styles of the inner and outer rims, and the size of the centre holes, were used to denote mint location, workshop or furnace, and casting period (often more than one per year).

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