Money Treasury

Money Treasury

Money Treasury, locally nicknamed the "Iron Coin Treasury." The main pile of iron coins is buried three meters underground. According to records, it was unearthed during the mass steel production campaign in 1958, but due to the limited smelting technology at the time, it could not be melted down and was therefore reburied. There's also an interesting local legend in which iron coins are commonly called "iron donkeys."

It is said that long ago, a huge iron donkey was buried underground, and only eight true brothers (with no step relations) could dig it out. At that time, there were seven brothers living in the old town who decided to give it a try. They invited their brother-in-law to make up the eighth person and went to dig for the iron donkey. When the donkey’s leg began to show, the eight men paired up to lift the four legs of the iron donkey. However, the group including the brother-in-law couldn’t lift their assigned leg. The third brother, growing impatient, shouted, “Brother-in-law, put some strength into it!” No sooner had he spoken than, with a loud grunt, the entire iron donkey sank back into the ground. It remained buried until 1997, when excavation resumed. The unearthed pile of ancient coins had an average thickness of 80 centimeters, took an irregular shape, and weighed about 48 tons. Due to the long passage of time, the iron coins had corroded into solid chunks. The ancient coins were round with square holes, typically 4 millimeters thick, and while most inscriptions were too worn to read, a few characters could still be faintly made out — among them were “Dahetongbao,” minted during the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty (827–835), as well as “Daguantongbao” and “Zhenghetongbao,” which were produced during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Experts speculate that this site may have once been a national coin mint, hence the name “Iron Coin Treasury,” though no definitive historical records have been found to confirm this.