THE DISCOVERY of the ancient mint at Guanzhuang has yielded both spade coins and
the clay molds used to make them. To produce such spade coins (like the one above,
whose points have been lost since its casting), craftsmen made two clay outer molds (not
shown). A clay core (far left, at a much larger scale than the coins) was placed between
the outer molds to create the cavity for the spade’s hollow “handle.” The outer molds
were then tied together around the core, and molten bronze poured in. A core, still filling
the “handle,” is visible in the coin above.NEWSPrior to the discovery, the
earliest mint was believed
to be in Lydia (in modern
Turkey), dating to between
575 b.c. and 550 b.c. The team
of Chinese scholars used radio
carbon dating to confirm the
Guanzhuang factory’s age.
“The minting techniques
employed at Guanzhuang
are characterized by batchproduction and a high degree
of standardization,” wrote
Hao Zhao, an archaeologist
at Zhengzhou University,
who led the research team.
Reported in the journal An-
tiquity, their excavation un-
covered all the elements of
manufacture, including coins,
molds, and clay cores. “The
production of spade coins wasC
hinese archaeol-
ogists announced
the discovery of
the world’s oldest
mint, adding a new chapter to
the history of money. Located
at the site of Guanzhuang, an
ancient city in China’s eastern
Henan Province, the factory
was mass-producing bronze
coins between 640 and 550 b.c.2,600-Year-Old Mint Was
E a rl ie st to Ma ke Mone y
An ancient Chinese foundry, located in today’s Henan Province, was
manufacturing bronze coins decades before other civilizations.CHINESE COINS6 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022CHINA
GuanzhuangBeijingTAIWANPROTECTED BY walls
and a moat, the
ancient city of Guan-
zhuang was an im-
portant center of the
Zheng State, a vassal
of the Zhou dynasty.
Established around
800 b.c., the city was
abandoned around
450 b.c.HAO ZHAONG^ M
APS
EXCAVATIONS SINCE 2011 HAVE
REVEALED THE GENERAL LAYOUT OF
GUANZHUANG, CONSISTING OF TWO
WALLED AND MOATED ENCLOSURES.
THE FOUNDRY WAS LOCATED IN THE
CENTER OF THE OUTER ENCLOSURE.
HAO ZHAO