User:Donald Trung/Kara-Khitan Khanate coinage

'''This page serves as "the editing history" of Liao dynasty coinage and List of Chinese cash coins by inscription. This page is preserved for historical intent and attribution.''' ✅. --Donald Trung (talk) 20:50, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

Western Liao dynasty


Scholars from the Qing dynasty long attributed the cash coins Gantian Yuanbao (感天元寳) and Kangguo Tongbao (康國通寳) to have been issued by the Qara Khitai Khanate, this was repeated by scholars from both the Western world and China without question until later research discovered that this was a myth. The Qara Khitai Khanate is suspected to have produced round coins with Persian language inscriptions in Al-Ūzjand (modern day Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan), however the attribution of these coins remain ambiguous and is debated among numismatists. Despite for the fact that for a long time no cash coins could attributed to the Qara Khitai Khanate many modern counterfeiters in Mainland China produced fantasy "Western Liao dynasty cash coins" using the reign titles of Western Liao Khans.

Imitations of Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳), Qianyuan Zhongbao (乾元重寳), and Zhouyuan Tongbao (周元通寶) cash coins from the Tang and Later Zhou dynasties, respectively, have been attributed to the Qara Khitai Khanate however the production of these was scarce. In November 2008 some rather unusual Chinese cash coins were unearthed at the Aq-Beshim site in Kyrgyzstan which lies near what used to be site of the ancient city of Suyab. Initially these cash coins were assumed to have the inscription "Jixing Yuan­bao" (績興元寳), as the manufacturing method of these coins was rather crude and their calligraphy poor as well as the reign title Jixing being unknown in Chinese historiography scholars deduced that these cashin coins had to be produced locally. Initially it was assumed that these coins were in fact coin-like charms but in October 2010 another coin with this inscription was found at the Qara-Jigach site (ancient Tarsakent), the inscription of this coin was more readable which corrected the earlier assumptions and this series was confirmed to bear the inscription "Xuxing Yuanbao" (續興元寳), in February 2011 another Xuxing Yuanbao cash coin was unearthed in Kyrgyzstan at the site of what used to be the ancient city of Navekat (Nawikath) in modern day Krasnaya Rechka which confirmed that they were in fact monetary objects.

A banknote with the title "Great Liao Treasure Note" with a denomination of 10 guàn is also attributed to this period. The treasure note depicts five silver sycees and contains a warning that counterfeiters will be decapitated and that anyone who exposes counterfeiters will be rewarded eight hundred taels of silver.

Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai Khanate)
In November 2008, October 2010, and February 2011 three specimens of cash coins produced by the Qara Khitai Khanate were unearthed in Kyrgyzstan, the first specimen of these cash coins were initially thought to bear the inscription "Jixing Yuan­bao" (績興元寳) but after the second one was unearthed its inscription was better understood.

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 * September 2018.