The Numismatic Legacy of Wang Mang, AD 9 - 23 - Paperback

by A. M. Fishman (Author), Heinz Gratzer (Author)

The Numismatic Legacy of Wang Mang is a part of a series of books on the early ancient Chinese coins. Emperor Wang Mang was a fascinating and brutal personality, a visionary but inept leader, a Confucian traditionalist and a proto-Communist, and, finally, a numismatic innovator. Wang Mang introduced three unsuccessful monetary reforms which resulted in dozens of completely new coin types. These reforms led to much suffering and contributed to his eventual demise and death. In form of all these coins, Wang Mang left a rich numismatic legacy. In this book, we review Wang Mang's monetary reforms and his coinage using the authors' decades of accumulated knowledge and the most up-to-date literature available. This book contains over 800 rubbings and photographs of over 300 different types and varieties of coins of Wang Mang, some of which have never been appeared in Western literature. Of notable interest is the detailed study of the prolific Da Quan Wu Shi and Huo Quan coins. This work is the result of collaboration between H. Gratzer and A. M. Fishman, two numismatists specializing in Asian coinage with many decades of experience and accumulated knowledge.

Author Biography

Heinz Gratzer spent his career as an engineer at Siemens. He has travelled widely throughout the Far East, and has been studying and collecting cast Chinese and Japanese coins for over 50 years. A.M. Fishman is a professional numismatist and former lecturer. He is the author of numerous articles and several numismatic texts, including The Silver Coinage of the Western Satraps in India.