Ancient Chinese Wu Zhu Coin Mould For Your Viewing.

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 3,350
TypeCoin971793 Pillar of the Community United States 6370 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 4:20 pm Here it is. It is the most interesting object in my Chinese coin collection. The styles of the characters indicate this mould is from the Western Han Dynasty or the early part of the Eastern Han Dynasty. I have had two of these, the pictured one included, but I have since sold the pictured specimen to Bob Reis. The one I do have I don't have pictures of for some reason, but it is in better shape and bigger (has 6 impressions instead of 4). Tell me what you think. Edited by TypeCoin971793 07/29/2015 5:26 pm Report this Post to the Staff

echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 4:41 pm No idea what the value of this is, but it is a very interesting piece. Report this Post to the Staff
zxcccxz Pillar of the Community Canada 5417 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 5:13 pm I don't have a clue as to the value, and don't personally know any experts of chinese medieval and ancient coinage here on the forum. I'm sure some research would yield good results as I would imagine that these pieces aren't so rare than very few or no others exist. I'll leave that to you. It's very interesting. I have similar pieces, not with coins, but I do collect fossils and other antiquities as well (antiquities being an understatement because most of them predate any coinage by about a hundred million years). I happen to some dinosaur footprints that are clearly embedded in rock as well as rocks that show evidence of patterns that were likely dinosaur skin. Wish you the best of luck. Report this Post to the Staff
Buymyemu Valued Member United States 215 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 5:34 pm What was it used for, how and why was it made (and when?). Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 6:10 pm Interesting indeed...both the mold and timing. This was just uploaded today with the new Agora auction: http://agoraauctions.com/listing/viewdetail/21313 http://agoraauctions.com/administra...10/21252.jpg What I fail to understand is how a mold can be in relief, as the Agora image seems to show (unless I'm just reading it wrong). The Agora seems less a mold than an impression made from a mold... Report this Post to the Staff
TypeCoin971793 Pillar of the Community United States 6370 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 6:39 pm The Agora mould is called a mother mould, used to make several usable moulds with incuse images. (This is just the obverse mother mould; they also had mother moulds for the reverses as well.) The mother moulds would be pressed into clay tablets to produce an incuse image that is replicated from the excuse image. These tablets would then be fired to make them much sturdier. And then molten bronze would be poured in between the moulds, which were fastened together, and left to cool. Once the bronze had cooled, the moulds would be pulled away to reveal a coin tree like the ones below. Then the coins were broken off the tree and their edges were filed down. On the Agora mould, you can see the coin's devices in high relief, but in between the coins there are casting tracks in a lower relief. These helped the flow of the molten bronze into all of the crevaces in the moulds. I almost got one myself, but it sold before I had the chance to buy it. Edited by TypeCoin971793 07/29/2015 6:44 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 7:09 pm Great explanation. Thanks. In fact I figured that might be it, but I couldn't wrap my head around the Agora description ("terra cotta mold used to cast Wu Zhu coins")...So, in reality it is a mold used to create molds used to cast coins...their description seems to have jumped ahead a generation. Great pics you provide, btw. Thanks again . Edited by Kamnaskires 07/29/2015 7:09 pm Report this Post to the Staff
chrsmat71 Pillar of the Community United States 4966 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 9:40 pm oh wow, that's interesting as as be..and the mold used to make molds...had no idea. how cool. i do have one of these coins... Report this Post to the Staff
TypeCoin971793 Pillar of the Community United States 6370 Posts	Posted 07/29/2015 11:25 pm The mother mould thing comparable to the master dies that most countries use today. Saves the time and money of having to re-engrave each working die. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 8 / Views: 3,350

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