The list of coin hoards in China () lists significant archaeological hoards of coins, other types of coinages (e.g. sycees) or objects related to coins discovered in China (the People's Republic of China in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Free area of the Republic of China, e.g. Taiwan). The history of Chinese currency dates back as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), and the earliest coinages took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. During the Warring States period new forms of currency such as the spade money, knife money, and round copper-alloy coins were introduced (further reading: Zhou dynasty coinage and Ancient Chinese coinage). After unification of China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC the Ban Liang (半兩) cash coin became the standard coinage, under the Han dynasty the Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins became the main currency of China until they were replaced with the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) during the Tang dynasty, after which a large number of inscriptions were used on Chinese coinages. During the late nineteenth century China started producing its own machine-struck coinages.
In Chinese culture coins are often used as burial objects and it's not uncommon for coins to be discovered in tombs and graves.
Occasionally foreign coins are also found in China, which were brought there through international trade routes such as the Silk Road, overseas trade with foreign countries, and colonialism. And because of trade with other countries large quantities of Chinese coins have also been found in neighbouring countries like Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as far away places like Elcho Island, Kenya, and Yukon.
In 2021 a paper was published about an old mint that was discovered at an archeological site in Henan Province, through radiocarbon-dating the spade money found there was attributed to have been created between 640 BCE and no later than 550 BCE making it possibly the world's oldest known mint. This means that it is possible that the earliest known coinage was invented by the Chinese and not the Lydians as is commonly believed.
Cleaning of coins by Chinese archaeologists
As Chinese archaeologists frequently unearth ancient Chinese cash coins and other forms of historical currency at tomb sites, these unearthed bronze coinages are often severely corroded because they have been buried for hundreds or thousands of years, this sometimes means that the inscriptions on them can't be read. While archaeologists working at a site tend to do everything very slowly and do it as methodically as possible to avoid doing any damage to the buried cultural relics, this approach isn't taken with cash coins because they are often vital to date the tombs or ruins. With ancient Chinese cash coins archaeologists tend to be less concerned about their preservation and clean them to identify them.
To clean bronze cash coins Chinese archaeologists will simply put them in a mild acid like vinegar to soak for a period of 2 or 3 days, after this process is done the surface dirt and some of the corrosion will be removed. The cash coins are then removed by the person doing the cleaning, and they will them scrape out any leftover corrosion in the Chinese characters by using a (common) toothpick. After this process is done, a rubbing is usually made of the unearthed coins.
On the contrary, it is usually said among coin collectors to not clean their coins because the cleaning process will often lessen the coin's market value or in some cases even ruin it.
Because of the high frequency of the discovery of coin hoards in China uncleaned coin hoards from other countries are often sent to China for cleaning and assessment. For example, someone discovered a hoard of group of around 400 different 8 reales coins on the border between Mexico and the central American country of Guatemala. These silver coins were mostly produced by the Guatemala mint with others produced by the Mexico and Lima mints, all of which contained portraits of kings Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. As these coins were all too unclean to be deemed "valuable" by coin collectors they were sent to a coin dealer in the Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. Such situations are common as Chinese coin dealers have become experts in removing corrosion from coins to get them graded by numismatic experts and then be sold into the retail market.
19th century
List of 19th century coin hoards in the Qing dynasty Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) 1820s Ling-shih-hsien District, Shanxi Province 16 Roman coins. On 8 May 1886 the Deseret News reported: "Dr. Bushell of the British Legation at Peking, has prepared a monograph on some ancient Roman coins found in Shansi. The coins, 16 in number, were discovered, some 60 years ago, buried in the ground in the district of Ling-shih-hsien: it is known that there was constant intercourse and trade between China and the Roman empire during the first three centuries of the Christian era, and the coins, as identified by Dr. Bushell, date from Tiberius (A. D. 14-37) to Aurelianus (A. D. 270-275). Dr. Bushell says that he has heard of only one other instance of the discovery of Roman coins in China. That was when two were bought by Mr. Lyall at a wayside stall in Tien-Tsin, the Shansi coins presented "every appearance of having been buried, and no attempt had been made to remove the patina to read the legends." Dr. Bushell pronounces them genuine beyond all question, and says that he doubts whether "one of the best modern engravers, with all the appliances at his command, could produce a head equal to that on the coin of Commodus" (A. D. 180-192)."
1950s
1950s (Mainland China)
List of 1950s coin hoards in Mainland China Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) 1950s Xi'an, Shaanxi Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins During the 1950s, a number of Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins were unearthed at a site somewhere near the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi. Among the excavated cash coins was one notable silver specimen, this cash coin notably has a diameter of , a thickness of , and a weight of , compared to most State of Qin Ban Liang cash coins made from bronze which typically have a diameter between and weigh only . Warring States period 1955–1959 Hengyang and Changsha, Hunan Iron Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins Between the years 1955 and 1959 a number of iron Ban Liang cash coins were unearthed in Western Han dynasty era tombs in the Hunanese cities of Hengyang and Changsha. These hoards point out to the possibility that China has used iron cash coins over a millennium before the Northern Song dynasty, as was traditionally thought before these discoveries. Western Han dynasty period
1953
1953 (Mainland China)
List of 1953 coin hoards in Mainland China Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) December 1953 Suburban Guangzhou, Guangdong province 20 catties of Qianheng Zhongbao (乾亨重寳) cash coins. In December 1953, at the construction site of new buildings in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, construction workers employed by at the Mayugang (孖鱼冈) new village construction site discovered a pile of lead Qianheng Zhongbao (乾亨重寳) cash coins, weighing as much as 20 catties, was found buried in a small underground pit.Mak Ying Ho (麦英豪) - Southern Han lead cash coins found in Guangzhou (广州发现南汉铅钱). - Kaogu (archaeological findings), issue #4, 1958 (考古通讯 4, 1958). No ancient tombs or other artifacts were found. The construction workers took out the coins and sent them to the Municipal Cultural Management Committee for preservation. This would prove the first discovery, as between December 1953 and 1958 a total of a total of 1200 catties worth of lead cash coins dated to the Southern Han period would be unearthed in Guangzhou. Southern Han period
1960s
1960s (Mainland China)
List of 1960s coin hoards in Mainland China Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) 1960s Jinshi City, Hunan 6 gold coins produced by the Delhi Sultanate During the 1960s six gold coins were discovered buried in a small white glazed pot at a farm in Jinshi City, Hunan. These gold coins are now classified as first-level national cultural relics (国家一级文物). During the 1980s these gold coins were moved to the museum of Jinshi City. Peng Jia (彭佳), Director of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Jinshi City noted that these gold coins were produced by the Delhi Sultanate during the time that China was under Mongol domination. The obverse of the coins contain the name of the reigning sultan written in a "rare form" of Arabic script. Mid-Yuan dynasty period The Museum of Jinshi City
1960
1960 (Mainland China)
List of 1960 coin hoards in Mainland China Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) September 1960 Luanping County, Hebei province A number of knife coins. In 1960 it was reported by the Toledo Blade that a number of knife coins dating to the Warring States period were unearthed in Luanping County, Hebei province. Among the hoard were also a number of other items including kitchen utensils, bricks, tiles, bronze mirrors, agate beads coln, and copper coins. 4th century BC
1969
1969 (Taiwan)
List of 1969 coin hoards in the free area of the Republic of China Date of discovery Place of discovery Image Content Long description of the find and notes Date(if known) Current location(if known) January 1969 Kinmen, Fujian Province Over 3000 cash coins produced between the years 971 and 1240. In 1969, workers digging for a construction project on Quemoy island discovered 2 pottery jars with over 3000 cash coins dated to the Song dynasty. 13th century
1970s
1970s (Mainland China)