A study by Cambridge University suggests that the discovery of medieval Chinese coins from the early 11th century is a real discovery. The 25mm copper-alloy coin was found in Buriton, near Petersfield, and archaeologists have now confirmed these ancient cash dates from the Northern Song Dynasty period.
This is the second coin to be found in England, an earlier example being found in Cheshire in 2018.
The pair have been found for some time in addition to other Chinese currency assets found in England.
Both 11th-century objects were found in areas associated with other medieval discoveries.
These include two Roman coins, medieval and post-medieval weights, pieces of medieval copper-alloy casting vest, and some items from the 16th to 18th centuries, including Elizabeth I coins.
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Ca Caitlin Green of Cambridge University wrote: “Everyone said that the Roman posts found on the site indicate relatively unreliable activity on the site from C1300 to C1750, with nothing else found that could indicate a deliberate bizarre representation or a loss from the curate. Collection
The presence of two identical coins confirms the evidence of their originality.
After the end of the dynasty in the 1120s, the Northern Song Dynasty of China minted these coins.
Growing evidence shows that East Asian tourists were present in Britain and Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.
When the 2018 coin was found in Cheshire, some pieces of documentary evidence suggested by archaeologists show the interaction between Britain and East Asia in the medieval period.
In 2018, the Portable Antiquities Scheme described the coin worn from Chainshire as a cast copper alloy piece during the Zening regime.
They wrote: “It is doubtful that this is a real medieval invention (i.e. present in the country due to trade and accidentally lost) but a recent loss from curated collection.”
However, Dr. Green suggested that the explanation for the unusual loss of “damage from curated collection” is unsatisfactory.
He wrote: “Although the probability of damage from a curated collection cannot be underestimated, it can be overused as an explanation for a ‘surprise’ discovery – as observed by Martin Bidle, ‘the proverbial absent-minded college college don or cathedral can , Items left in his collection here, there and everywhere … he never felt a very credible character ‘, and the hyper-skepticism has diminished somewhat in recent years with at least some foreign coins being found in Britain. “
Dr Green added that he was determined to find out if it was possible for such a coin to come to Britain during the medieval era and that our findings in that period would also review the evidence for contacts between East Asia and Britain.
Much of the evidence for the genius of these Chinese coins is found in those texts.
One of the most famous accounts is that of the Flemish Franciscan missionary and the explorer William of Rubark, who encountered an Englishman named Basil when Rubrak visited Mongolia in 1254.
