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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Asian Art
• Sale Date:
  07 Dec 2022 ~ Session 1 (Lots 1 - 143) 2pm (AEDT)
  07 Dec 2022 ~ Session 2 (Lots 201 - 294) 6pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  59
• Lot Description:
  A gold plate of joined coins, and an Ordos-style gold plaque
  Possibly Warring States
  with a box, the coins 6.7cm wide, 94.1g; the plaque 5.7cm long, 52.8g (2).
• Provenance:
  The Hsiao family collection, Melbourne
• Notes:
  The quantity of gold produced in the territories of Kingdom of Chu under its control enables it to be the only kingdom of the Warring States period to strike its own pure gold coinage. In the spring of 1969 and 1970, a number of joined square plaque-shaped coins were found in Chu tombs in modern-day Anhui province. These pure gold coins were legal tender in the Kingdom of Chu where they were used for large transactions. Each is stamped with two characters, either ??, or ??, ?, Ying, being the capital of Chu and the place where the coins were produced. These square coins were produced in plates or sheets of multiple pieces from which they were cut out according to the weight of the gold needed for an individual transaction. Most of these plaques are impressed with characters, unlike the current lot, which is embossed. A similarly embossed plaque with the same characters is found in the China Numismatic Museum, accessed online via Wikipedia, file name: Yingyuan_Gold_in_China_Numismatic_Museum.jpg. See another related example, Christian Deydier & Han Wei, understanding Ancient Chinese gold and silver, p.43, pl.34
• Estimate:
  A$2,000 - 4,000
• Realised Price:
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• Category:
  Oriental

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.