CHINA, WU ZHU, vertical line top, 76-88 AD & later

DescriptionDuring the Eastern Han period the casting of coins became substantially privatized, and various kinds of marks began to be added. The book One Thousand Years of Wu Zhu Coinage 118 BC – AD 958, by Heinz Gratzer and A.M. Fishman, is very useful in attributing the Wu Zhu varieties.At the end Zhou period Qin state became dominant. Qin Shi Huangdi became first Emperor of united China. The Han Dynasty followed, China grew prosperous. A minister, Wang Mang, usurped the throne 7-25 AD. His administrative experimentation brought famine and war. Han returned. The political situation deteriorated until China broke up into independent regions.The oldest Chinese coins are at least as old as the earliest Greek coins. The Chinese coinage system differed from other systems in two ways. It was monometallic, only bronze coins circulated in general commerce. Gold and silver were treated as commodities. And the manufacturing method was by casting in moulds rather than by striking heated solid planchets. The main reference I use in attributing and describing these coins is the book: Chinese Cast Coins, by David Hartill.