National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Two samples, not illustrated here, have special marks: short ridges radiating from
the corners of the hole on the reverse K. 13379: 11, and a "nailmark" on the ob-
verse K. 13421: 1.

The cash strings Pl. 31: 1 consist, as far as can be judged, of the ordinary Wu-
ch'u coin. Nos. 26: 1—5 are covered with thick incrustations, but the size is that of
the normal Wu-ch'u.

There are two samples of a coin of Wu-ch'u type lacking the outer rim, and five
debased Wu-ch'u such as Pl. 28: 28—29, and one clipped Pl. 30: 9, making in all
245 Wu-ch'u coins.

Besides these there are only two "Goose-eyes" and some trifling fragments.

We may be quite sure that what I have called the normal Wu-ch'u is a true Han
issue. The chronological limits for Wu-ch'u given in numismatic works are 118 B. C.
—581 A. D., but at the end of the Han dynasty the Wu-ch'u currency was rapid-
ly debased, as is clearly visible on the specimens from here. They became smaller
and of much inferior make. If the Wu-ch'u were revived again it is hardly likely
that they were minted exactly after the same pattern as in the beginning of their
use. Both through Stein's finds and my own from well dated strata we have now
a fair number of undeniable Han Wu-ch'u, and the Lop-nor specimens referred to
as normal Wu-ch'u are of exactly the same shape and size.

Among these finds of the then current money there are especially two which are
worth consideration; they were made very near each other at the northernmost part
of the delta, at Hörner's camp 106 (marked 420 on the map Fig. 37). The first
find bears the number K. 13421 and consists of 63 Wu-ch'u coins which were lying
scattered along an area of 30 m. in length and 1 m. in breadth. Some of them are
very thin from wind erosion.

On the occasion of Mr. Chen's second visit to this spot three years later still an-
other heap of coins was found there, No. 41: 1—13.

The other find, K. 13423, depicted on Pl. 31: 1, is a partly preserved cash string
consisting of single coins or lumps of up to twenty coins adhering to one another
through the thick, hard incrustations. The latter are caused by moisture. The most
predominating colour is not, however, green but the dark brown of the desert patina.

These two finds of money current during the Lou-lan occupation in nearly the
same place show that this region immediately to the north of the present delta was
of special importance, and probably saw much traffic. Other bronze objects, too,
that have been found there point in the same direction.

The Chinese coins have certainly been minted in China proper, possibly with the
exception of some simple types such as the "Goose-eyes". It is impossible to give true
statistics of the coins from the Lop-nor region, only that more than one thousand
have been found, and that the majority consists of Wu-ch'u.

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