Coin huoquan

The coin shown here is a numismatic rarity, as it dates from the brief reign of Wang Mang 王莽 (45–23 B.C.), who after the fall of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 8) briefly ruled over its territory. He was the nephew of Empress Wang 王 (71 B.C.–A.D. 13, widow of Emperor Hanyuan 漢元 (75–33 B.C.)), and was appointed regent to the barely two-year-old Emperor Ruzi 孺子 (5–25) in year 7. In year 9, he ascended the throne, founding the short-lived Xin 新 Dynasty (9–23). While some see him as a great visionary and reformer who took land away from large landowners and influential families, nationalised it, and distributed it to peasants, others characterise him primarily as a usurper and autocrat. During his short reign, however, he carried out a series of far-reaching and highly ambitious social, political, and economic reforms, including monetary ones. He revived several coin designs from the Warring States Period (475–221 B.C.). His most famous coins are shaped like a shovel (bubi 布幣) and a knife (daobi 刀幣), more reminiscent of a key. The wuzhu 五銖 coin (five zhu 銖 or 3.25 grams) from the previous Qin (221–206 B.C.) and the Western Han dynasties remained in use as the basic monetary unit. However, to completely sever the link with the Han Dynasty, in year 14 Wang Mang issued huoquan 貨泉 coins like the one shown in the photo. Huoquan means “basic coin”, and its value was the same as the old wuzhu coin. (MG)