Half ryosen

These bronze coins, round and with square holes, were cast with the character "han liang" and were in circulation during the Qin and Han dynasties in China. The han liang coins issued by the First Emperor of Qin in 221 BC were actual currency and were also called most han liang. The han liang (12 shu) of that time is about 8 grams today. There were eight shu han liang and four shu han liang in the Han period, and although the inscription says they are han liang, in reality the former was two-thirds the weight and the latter one-third the weight, making them nominal coins.

[Takeji Iijima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、秦(しん)・漢時代に流通した「半両」の二字を鋳造した青銅製の円体方孔(ほうこう)の銭。秦の始皇帝が紀元前221年に発行した半両銭は実体貨幣で、大半両ともよばれている。当時の半両（12銖(しゅ)）は今日の約8グラムである。漢半両には、八銖半両と四銖半両とよばれるものがあり、銘には半両とあるが、実質は前者が3分の2、後者が3分の1の重さで名目貨幣である。

［飯島武次］

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