关于宋代货币私铸的几个问题

私铸是宋代货币经济领域一个始终无法解决的问题.货币私铸的产生,固然受利益的驱动所致,但封建政府货币政策的失误,也是造成民间私铸盛行的一个重要因素.参与私铸的人员涉及当时社会的各个阶层,不仅有普通百姓和铸工,也有官员和地方豪强,并且多以团伙的形式出现.私铸者往往掌握较熟练的铸钱技术,选择在深山僻谷和大江大湖之上,或者直接在官冶附近铸造,使官府防不胜防.他们利用从国家矿冶中偷采来的铜料,或销毁铜钱、铜器,将所得之铜作为部分原料,再混以铅锡等杂质加以铸造,因此质量低劣.私铸的盛行,使流通中劣钱泛滥,造成了货币贬值和社会经济混乱.

Some Problems of Private Minting in the Song Dynasty

The minting of counterfeit currency remained an inextricable problem in the economic realm of ancient China,In the Song Dynasty,the social need for currencies increased day by day due to the rapid development of economy.However,as the government failed to mint enough coins,there was a lack of currencies in circulation,resulting in the especially noticeable problem of illegal private minting.Though the counterfeiters were profit-driven,the Song government's monetary impolicy was also an important factor that caused the rampancy of private minting.Those involved came from various social classes,including plain folk,minting craftsmen,local powers,and even government officials and imperial family members.The plain folk made fake coins to lessen their living pressure,while the wealthy and privileged aimed to seek more ill-gotten profits.Though underground activities,most of the large-scale illegal private minting practices were operated by gangs,with many controlled by local powers.Besides private minting,these gangs also committed many other crimes.The minting gangs usually employed sophisticated minting techniques.To facilitate their mining and minting activities and to prevent their illicit doings from being disclosed,the minters often chose to work in deep mountains with few people,or on big rivers from where they could easily abscond.Some located their workshops right beside mints of local authorities in order to steal copper more easily.They used copper,which they stole from collective resources and gained by melting coins and copper wares as part of raw material,and then minted counterfeit coins with a mixture of many impurities like lead and tin.The privately minted coins were made to a maximum of resemblance to the genuine ones,so they could be used in circulation without being easily identified.However,as the counterfeiters were motivated to seek maximum profits with minimum costs,many problems emerged during the process.Raw materials were not extracted carefully,leaving a lot of impurities inside;minting molds were not exquisite enough;and the coins were not cautiously burnished after being made.Moreover, in order to avoid being caught by the government,the minters had to finish the work as quickly as they could.As a result,most of the privately minted coins were thin and light,with a rough surface.Low quality became the hallmark of such coins.The overflow of counterfeit coins led to the prevalence of low-quality currency used in circulation,thus causing currency devaluation and chaos of social economy.