Suzhou Coin Museum

Suzhou Coin Museum

Most of the exhibits in the Suzhou Coin Museum were donated by Mr. Sun Guobao, a renowned coin collector. The museum is located at No. 240 Dongbei Street, adjacent to the Suzhou Museum. The exhibition is divided into twelve sections.

The first section focuses on the origin of currency. Cowrie shells, which were among the earliest forms of money used by our ancestors, date back to ancient times. The rest of the exhibits showcase a wide variety of ancient coins that differ in shape, denomination, and material, arranged chronologically through history—an impressive and dazzling array.

Metal cast coins used during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods—such as spade coins, knife coins, round coins, and ant-nose coins—rest quietly in their display cases, giving visitors the fleeting sense that thousands of years have passed in an instant.

In 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the currency system and minted large quantities of “Qin Ban Liang” coins, which were round with square holes in the center. These coins, valued for their convenience in carrying, trading, and storing, were adopted by successive dynasties and remained in use for more than two thousand years.

In the “Qin, Han, and Xin Mang” section, the “Yi Dao Ping Wu Qian” gold-inlaid knife coin features the characters “Yi Dao” (one knife) inlaid with gold, demonstrating exquisite goldsmithing techniques and making it a valuable work of art. In the “Three Kingdoms, Two Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties” room, the Northern Zhou Dynasty’s “Yong Tong Wan Guo” coin boasts exquisitely crafted seal script, considered the finest among Six Dynasties coins and of high artistic value. The Song Dynasty’s “Chun Hua Yuan Bao” coin features the characters engraved in three script styles—regular, semi-cursive, and cursive—each personally inscribed by Emperor Taizong of Song. Viewing the “Chun Hua Yuan Bao” offers a unique glimpse into the calligraphy of this refined emperor.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Luohan (Arhat) coin was popular. These coins were minted to commemorate Emperor Kangxi’s 60th birthday. Young men and women regarded them as tokens of love, symbolizing good fortune and everlasting union, which led to the circulation of tender love stories about the Luohan coin among the people.

The exhibition also includes a variety of Chinese paper currency, an assortment of charm coins, coins issued by peasant uprising regimes throughout history, as well as modern Chinese and foreign coins, banknotes, and commemorative coins. Each piece silently tells a profound story from the past.