ingot BM-1978-0636.126

Period:Song dynasty Production date:12thC-13thC
Materials:silver
Technique:

Dimensions:Weight: 440 grammes

Description:
Silver ingot.
IMG


Comments:From Joe Cribb (1979): [p.191] “The use of silver is not mentioned in the dynastic histories of the Han, but several examples of silver monetary ingots of the first and second century AD have survived (Pl. 27, 6 and 7). Their weights vary considerably, from 50 down to 8 ounces. The inscriptions on all of them show that they were made for official use, such as imperial largesse, or for official purchases.”[pp.202-203] “Appendix III. Han silver ingots. None of the silver ingots datable to the Han period has come from an attested archaeological source. Although some of them are said to have been excavated no reliable witnesses of the facts have been named. Nevertheless, the authenticity of these pieces is generally accepted (Yang Lien-sheng, ‘Money and Credit in China’, 1952, p. 43). However, the similarity of most of these ingots to pieces proven to be of the medieval period must raise a question mark over their authenticity. The ingot (a) dated AD 32 mentioned below has an identical profile to the raised edge ingots of the Northern Song period, and some of the ingots (b) dated AD 57 and (c) dated AD 148 closely resemble the small ingots of the Southern Song and Jin period. … Unfortunately, only one of the ingots is available to me for first-hand examination and I am therefore unable to express a definite opinion. This question should certainly be examined more closely in the light of the development of later ingots now illustrated by recent finds. A plausible explanation of these ingots would be that they are genuine ingots of the medieval period which have had inscriptions added to them to make them more attractive to collectors. Uninscribed medieval ingots have been found. Furthermore, the fact that the inscriptions are not engraved but stamped like those on later ingots before the eighteenth century does suggest their recent addition. There is, however, one aspect of the inscriptions that argues in their favour, namely the accuracy of their style and content. If they are the products of a forger he would have to have been a very learned man. Future archaeological work will probably provide the solution. … (c) Said to be from same find as (b) and (d) [ie ‘excavated at Chingzhou, Shantung Province’ in Peng Collection]. Four ingots (three weighing approximately 32 ounces, British Museum, ANS and an unknown collection and one weighing approximately 16 ounces; ANS Collection) made for official use in AD 148 by an official in Shensi Province. Okudaira Masahiro, ‘Toa Senshi’, vol.2, 345-6. Yang, op.cit., 43. Peng Xin Wei, ‘Zhongguo Huobi shi (1965), 151.” Bruce Rusk (Associate Professor, Dept. of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia), noted in April 2014 the similarity between this ingot and another in the collection of the American Numismatic Society, New York (ANS 1937.179.19841, Gift of Miss Frances S. Reilly: Coll. of her father John Reilly Jr. http://numismatics.org/collection/1937.179.19841). “One reason for doubting the authenticity of these ingots is that the “honeycomb” pattern on the bottom looks to be artificially induced, rather than consisting of natural bubbles, and is oddly similar in the two ingots.”