Lead cash coins (; Vietnamese: Duyên tiền; Japanese: 鉛銭 (なまりせん); Rōmaji: Namarisen) are a type of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cash coin that were produced at various times during the monetary history of imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam. Typically cash coins produced in China between 300 BC and 1505 AD were made of bronze and those produced after 1505 AD were made of brass. But, like with iron cash coins, at times when copper was scarce government authorities would produce lead cash coins to supplement the money supply and maintain market liquidity.
The production of lead cash coins predominantly happened in regions where large quantities of lead were mined, namely southern China and the Tōhoku region in northern Honshu.
China is the first country in the world to issue lead coins, though when the first lead coins were produced remains controversial as it is commonly believed that the first lead coins in the world were the small Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) cash coins produced during the reign of King Wang Shenzhi of the Min Kingdom (Fujian) in 916.Song Shan (嵩山) – Casting lead money begins with swallows (以铅铸钱始于燕) – "China Numismatics", Issue 1, 1990 (《中国钱币》1990年 第1期 – 55–57页 共4页). Quote: "我国是最早以铅铸钱的国家,这己为人们所公认。" (China is the first country to cast money with lead, which has been recognised by people.). However, some claim that the production of lead coins was actually started a millennium earlier during the Zhou dynasty period. It is therefore taken that 916 is the earliest use of lead for the regular production of cash coins, while the lead Yi Hua (一化) coins from the State of Yan, ant-nose money from the State of Chu, and Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins dating from the Qin to the Western Han dynasties are in fact irregular uses.Ye Weiqi (叶伟奇) - Lead Ban Liang cash coin (铅质半两钱) - "China Collection", Issue 11, 2006 (《中国收藏》2006年 第11期: 132-132页 共1页). - Fujian (福建). Quote: "最近，笔者从安徽泉友处交换得一枚未见载录的铅质半两钱，该钱直径28.5毫米，穿径8.5毫米，厚度0.8毫米，重1.57克，钱币正面篆书“半两”二字，分列钱穿右左，钱背无文，通体灰黑色兼有蓝黄色锈，上还留有薄层土锈。".Gan Shuguang (甘曙光) - Newly discovered Qin Dynasty lead "Ban Liang" cash coins in Guangzhou (广州新发现秦代铅质大型 “半两” 钱). - Collection, 106, 2007 (收藏界, 106, 2007).
Lead cash coins were also produced in what is today Indonesia by groups of Overseas Chinese living in the archipelago.Yi Zhongting (易仲廷) and Yao Shuomin (姚朔民) – Rare indonesian lead cash coins (罕见的印度尼西亚铅钱) – "Chinese Numismatics", Issue 4, 1990 (《中国钱币》1990年 第4期: 63–48页 共3页). The production of lead cash coins in Indonesia happened alongside tin and copper-alloy cash coins.De Munten van Nederlandsch Indië, by Netscher and Van der Chijs Batavia, Dutch East Indies – 1863) (in Dutch).
Overview
Iron cash coins and lead cash coins were often used in cases when there was an insufficient supply of copper. Because of how soft lead is, most lead cash coins that are found today tend to be very worn.
Lead cash coins have only been produced at a few times in the monetary history of china, mainly during the Five dynasties and Ten kingdoms period.Xiong Weiguang (熊慰光) – Looking at the lead Kaiyuan cash coins of the early Min Kingdom of the Five Dynasties currency (从铅开元看五代闽国初期货币) – Fujian Numismatics, 1994 (福建钱币, 1994). In some cases the usage of certain types of materials to produce cash coins are only more recently discovered due to the lack of historical records mentioning them. In some cases modern economic historians mention that they existed but don't go into much detail about them, for example Peng Xinwei mentions that lead and iron cash coins but doesn't mention much about them, only writing that the King of Chu was advised to use iron and lead because it was available in large amounts.Peng, Xinwei: A Monetary History of China. vol I. and II. (Translated from the Chinese original Zhongguo Huobi Shi 1965 by Kaplan, Edward H.) 1994 (Western Washington University). Pages: 263. It has only been since more recent times that the fact that the Song dynasty had attempted to produce lead cash coins been discovered. Because of this almost no Chinese coin catalogues list their existence while they have mentioned in works such as the Meng Guohua: Guilin Faxian Qian Xi Hejin Qian. Zhongguo Qianbi No. 3. 1994 (Vol. 46.) which deal with the topic.
Besides official coins, counterfeit cash coins would often employ official inscriptions, like Yongzheng Tongbao (雍正通寳), but be made entirely out of lead.Zhang Baojian (张宝舰) – Qingxian County, Hebei Province found privately minted "Yongzheng Tongbao" lead cash coins in Guizhou (河北青县发现贵州私铸 "雍正通宝" 铅钱) – Guizhou Literature and History Series 4, 1986 (贵州文史丛刊 4, 1986).
Lead cash coins from southern China were successful outside of China, as the Southern Han Kingdom often exported its lead money to other countries, especially those in what is now Indonesia.
Han dynasty
In a 2005 article in the numismatic journal Xinjiang Numismatics (新疆钱币), it was reported that a number of lead cash coins dating to the Western Han dynasty period were uncovered in a small village in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.Zhang Zhichao (张智超) – Exploration of Western Han Dynasty lead cash coins unearthed in Yanchi County, Ningxia (宁夏盐池县出土西汉铅钱探索) – "Xinjiang Numismatics" 2005 No. 3 (《新疆钱币》2005年 第3期: 44–56页 共13页).
Tang dynasty
After the An Lushan Rebellion, to reduce costs and increase the hardness of coins, the imperial court added more and more lead to alloys of cash coins. During the late Tang dynasty period, some Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins contained more than 50% lead.
Between 1982 and 2002 the numismatic researcher Qian Boquan (钱伯泉) collected over 5 lead Dali Yuanbao (大曆元寳) cash coins on the Ürümqi coin market.Qian Boquan (钱伯泉) – A short discussion about Dali Yuanbao lead cash coins (大历元宝铅钱小谈) – "Xinjiang Numismatics" 2002 No. 3 (《新疆钱币》2002年 第3期: 7-7页 共2页). In a 2002 article in the numismatic journal Xinjiang Numismatics (新疆钱币), Qian Boquan reported that these lead Dali Yuanbao vary in size and weight. They range from having a diameter of 26 to 29 millimeters, a thickness of 4 to 5 millimeters, and a weight of 5.7 to 7.8 grams. The obverse and reverse of each cash coin is filled with a yellow-white alkaline patina.
Small amounts of lead Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins were discovered in coin hoards dating to the reign of Emperor Wuzong.Yu Tianyou (余天佑) - Analysis and discussion on the metal composition of ancient lead-zinc cash coins in Vietnam (越南古代铅锌钱金属成分分析与探讨) - Guangxi Financial Research, 3-11, 2007 (广西金融研究, 3-11, 2007: 3-11页 共9页). - Quote: "在唐武宗（公元841年）时期的窖藏钱币中就发现了有少量的铅质开元通宝。" (A small amount of lead Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins were found in the coin hoards dating to the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Tang (841 AD).).
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
According to Yang Lien-sheng, from the year 916 lead cash coins were being cast in what is today Fujian, this was followed by the production of iron cash coins shortly afterwards.Yang, Lien-sheng: Money and Credit in China, a Short History. Harvard University Press. Cambridge 1971. Page: 28. After this was pioneered in the Fujian region it was adopted by the neighbouring dynasties and kingdoms. During this period bronze cash coins would continue to remain the dominant currency of the countryside, while iron and lead cash coins were widely being circulated in urban areas.
This was a good method to balance imports and exports because foreign tradesmen and merchants could not use the iron and lead cash coins they received as payment in other states, forcing them to spend them locally before they left.
At times, lead cash coins dated to this period are found bearing Inscriptions of which seem to have been omitted from the historical records, for example a lead Guangzheng Tongbao (廣政通寳) cash coin attributed to the Later Shu.Zhao Hanguo (赵汉国) – Guangzheng Tongbao lead cash coin found in Hanzhong (汉中发现广政通宝铅钱) – Xi'an Finance, 1996 (西安金融, 1996). – Quote: "< 正> 今年春节过后, 笔者在汉中市场购得一枚广政通宝铅钱, 钱有破裂痕, 但已修补, 伤及钱文较轻, 文字基本完整. 直径 2.6, 穿 0.7, 厚 0.1 厘米, 重 3.8 克. 售钱者是驻河东店某单位一离休干部. 据说此钱就在褒河".
While the southern kingdoms often issued iron and lead cash coins, many regimes in the central plains explicitly forbade their circulation. For example, the Later Tang ordered all iron and lead cash coins within its territory to be collected and destroyed as it saw their circulation as an invitation for counterfeiters to deliberately produce cheap and bad quality money that would negatively affect the economy.
Min Kingdom
In the year 916, Wang Shenzhi, King of the Min Kingdom began to make lead cash coins, and thereafter, lead coins were circulated along with the traditional copper-alloy coins.Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms (十國春秋), vol. 90. This series of small lead coins bore the inscription Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) on their obverse sides and either had the character Min (閩), Fu (福), or Yin (殷), above the square central hole, on their reverse sides. Some of these lead coins have a crescent below and/or a dot on the left of the square central hole. These cash coins were minted in what is today Ninghua County, Sanming, Fujian after deposits of lead were discovered in the area.Xin Shimin (欣士敏) – Wang Shenzhi cast lead cash coins for the wealth and convenience of the country (王审知富国便民铸铅钱) – "Development Research" Issue 8, 2002 (《发展研究》2002年 第8期: 27–27页 共1页) – Fujian Huafu Company (福建省华福公司). These cash coins are collectively referred to as "Min Kaiyuan lead cash coins" (閩開元鉛錢, 闽开元铅钱) by modern Chinese numismatists, and thanks to archeological findings a larger number of variants have been uncovered than was first believed to exist.Jiang Jiuru (蒋九如), Liu Jingyang (刘敬扬), and Chai Guohong (柴国宏) – A preliminary study on the types and casters of Min Kaiyuan lead cash coins (闽开元铅钱的版别和铸造者初探) – "Fujian Finance" Issue 9, 1990 (《福建金融》1990年 第9期, 69–70页 共2页).
In the Kingdom of Min a single bronze Yonglong Tongbao (永隆通寳) was valued at 10 small cash coins and as much as 100 lead cash coins.
Ma Chu
The minister Gao Yu advised King Wumu of Chu to cast lead and iron cash coins at Changsha in 925, this was because of the abundance of lead and iron in the Hunan region. 1 lead or iron cash coin was nominally worth 10 copper-alloy cash coins, though their region of circulation was largely confined to Changsha. In Changsha the merchants would trade these coins which only benefited the government of the Kingdom of Chu.
The small lead cash coins said to have been cast by this kingdom bore the Inscriptions Qianfeng Quanbao (乾封泉寶) and Qianyuan Zhongbao (乾元重寳), inscriptions previously used by the Tang dynasty for bronze cash coins. Bronze cash coins with this same inscription dated to this period are sometimes attributed to have been produced during the reign of King Wumu, but their usage may have been as funerary items rather than as circulation currency.
In the year 929, the government of the Chu Kingdom officially fixed the value of a lead cash coin as of a bronze cash coin. Later, in 962, the royal government issued a decree stipulating that lead cash coins should circulate in urban areas, while bronze cash coins should circulate in the countryside. Those who did not obey this decree risked facing the death penalty.
Southern Tang Kingdom
The Southern Tang Kingdom issued a lead version of the Tangguo Tongbao (唐國通寳), an inscription which was also used for bronze and iron cash coins.
Southern Han Kingdom
The Southern Han issued a number of lead cash coins during its existence.Zhou Qingzhong (周庆忠) – Supplement to the Lead Cash Coins Foundries in the Southern Han Dynasty (南汉铸行铅钱补遗) – "Guangxi Financial Research" Issue B11, 2007 (《广西金融研究》2007年 第B11期). The first series of lead cash coins attributed to this kingdom had the inscription Kaiping Yuanbao (開平元寳) and is attributed to the kingdom's founder, Liu Yin.《中國古錢目錄》Zhongguo Gu Qian Mulu (Catalogue of Old Chinese Coins). Hua Guangpu (華光普). Hunan, 1998. Page: 383. These cash coins were possible cast to commemorate a Liang dynasty period title.