Chapter 152: Pig-Headed Five-Zhu Coins

Someone like Lin Sicheng, who has both ability and a well-behaved personality, is hard not to like.

Like Hao Jun, like Guan Xingmin.

Like Chen Peng, like He Zhigang.

Like Chen Fen, like Yao Hansong.

It feels natural, effortless, and involuntary to want to be close to Lin Sicheng.

For example, the aforementioned He Zhigang, and now Huang Zhifeng.

Especially those from the Provincial Museum; they had only been in contact for about a month, and in Wang Qi Zhi's words: they were just one step away from burning Yellow Paper and setting up an incense table to swear brotherhood.

Wang Qi Zhi feels it is mainly because Lin Sicheng has a sweet mouth, a youthful face, looks well-behaved, and has a sharp eye.

Of course, the key is his super-strong ability: who wouldn't like an all-purpose worker who can help you share the burden and even solve difficult problems anytime, anywhere?

Just like Huang Zhifeng; now, basically as soon as Lin Sicheng arrives, he acts as a hands-off Manager, even more comfortable and relaxed than Yao Hansong, the Section Chief.

Seeing Lin Sicheng, of course, they are cordial...

After chatting for a few sentences, the three men walked toward the long table; Chen Fen paused intentionally, waiting for Ren Qiuyu and Wu Yun.

Belonging to the same system and both being Researchers, the personalities of these two are indeed quite unique. In Huang Zhifeng's words: that woman surnamed Ren is super good at acting, especially good at tailoring her attitude to the person she's dealing with, and she goes crazy for attention at the drop of a hat.

But as a fellow woman, Chen Fen's evaluation was relatively tolerant and not so resistant; she greeted them with a smile: "Researcher Ren, Doctor Wu!"

The two responded hurriedly, their tone docile and their posture humble: "Group Leader Chen!"

In the field of history, archaeology, or even research in general, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Cultural Relics Research Institute are basically the ceiling for the province.

Even looking at the whole country, the research ability and academic achievements of the Shaanxi History Museum remain at the forefront.

If we use another analogy, viewing academic and research levels as a staircase, Ren Qiuyu and Wu Lin have used all their strength just to climb the first step. Meanwhile, Chen Fen and Huang Zhifeng have already climbed dozens or hundreds of steps, with the peak within reach.

It is hard for them not to be respectful and submissive.

And such people actually have a very vague concept of power and rank; they have the same attitude when seeing the Dean as they might when seeing the Mayor or high-ranking officials.

Therefore, it makes them particularly confused: if, as previously guessed, this kid has an extraordinary background just like Wang Qi Zhi, shouldn't the attitude of Huang Zhifeng and Chen Fen toward them be the same?

But the reality is the exact opposite: they are very close to Lin Sicheng, but very indifferent to Wang Qi Zhi...

As if guessing what they were thinking, Chen Fen smiled: "Were you thinking earlier: Professor Wang is really good to this student of his, taking him everywhere?"

The two nodded vigorously.

Especially Ren Qiuyu: she thought Wang Qi Zhi was using his convenience to bring Lin Sicheng along to broaden his horizons, which is why she had a whim and teased him a few times.

Actually, it's normal: the first time Wang Qi Zhi brought Lin Sicheng to the Provincial Museum, Yao Hansong and Chen Fen felt the same way.

"Actually, Professor Wang cannot teach him; at least at the graduate level, whether it is academic theory or applied practice, Professor Wang cannot teach him."

"It's not that Professor Wang's level isn't high, but that their research directions are diametrically opposed: Professor Wang's research focus is on Bronze, while Lin Sicheng's attainments in Gold Craftsmanship, Porcelain Restoration, Lacquer Craftsmanship, and other areas are already quite high. There is really no need to look far for what is near and go learn about Bronze research..."

Chen Fen was concise and to the point, without the slightest concealment, "So Section Chief Yao and Director Huang have been thinking, once Lin Sicheng graduates from university, whether they can recruit him into the Provincial Museum."

He hasn't even graduated from his undergraduate degree yet?

This was the two women's first reaction.

Chen Fen, Huang Zhifeng, and even Yao Hansong all feel that Wang Qi Zhi is misleading his students... This was the two women's second reaction.

The two female Doctors' lips parted slightly: if Chen Fen says the attainments are very high, then they are absolutely very high.

But at this age, just one of these items is already a bit incomprehensible; Gold Craftsmanship, Porcelain Restoration, Lacquer Craftsmanship, and Appraisal... How many disciplines does this span?

While their minds were still processing, Chen Fen tilted her chin, gesturing toward Lin Sicheng, who was standing by the long table:

"His Appraisal level is also very high; the five pieces of evidence highlighted during the previous meeting were all discovered by him... You could say it like this: if it weren't for Lin Sicheng, this case wouldn't have been discovered even now..."

Ren Qiuyu was suddenly stunned: no wonder those two leaders had that kind of attitude toward him?

But immediately, with a "whoosh," Ren Qiuyu's face turned completely red.

"Classmate, do you recognize this? This is called a 'legacy strategy'..."

"What about this? You don't recognize this either? This is called Jade Wenming..."

"Oh, your studies aren't very good, are they? How did you get into graduate school..."

Her mind kept replaying the scene in the conference room where she had a whim and teased Lin Sicheng.

Then thinking of Lin Sicheng's expression at the time: indifferent with a hint of strangeness, and a few traces of confusion...

Suddenly, Ren Qiuyu's fingers and toes curled against the soles of her shoes; she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Seeing her looking dazed, Chen Fen smiled and walked toward the long table.

Wu Lin tugged at her sleeve: "Are we going?"

Ren Qiuyu shook her head violently: "I'm not going, it's too embarrassing!"

It was indeed a bit.

Wu Lin nodded, then thought for a moment: "But aren't you curious?"

Of course she was curious.

How could she not be curious about a student who was praised so highly by Chen Fen—whom they couldn't hope to catch up to—and whom even Wang Qi Zhi couldn't teach?

Besides, in the future, as long as there is an occasion where they can run into Lin Sicheng, they will definitely run into Wang Qi Zhi; could they keep hiding forever?

After building up her psychological defenses for a while, Ren Qiuyu gritted her teeth: "Let's go!"

Subsequently, the two walked hesitantly to the side of the long table.

The stainless steel long table was over a meter wide and nearly two meters long, surrounded by baffles, like an upside-down box.

Inside, it was full of copper coins.

Lin Sicheng asked the Quality Inspector for three pairs of gloves and handed one pair each to Huang Zhifeng and Wang Qi Zhi.

Wang Qi Zhi originally didn't like wearing them, but ever since he met Lin Sicheng, through subtle influence, many of his bad habits had slowly been corrected.

Putting them on in a few quick motions, the three men huddled head-to-head, constantly sifting through them.

"No... how are there fakes in here?"

Huang Zhifeng let out a "Ha," pushed them forward, and said, "Look?"

Seven or eight copper coins, black with a hint of green; the rust actually looked quite natural.

Looking further at the coin's characteristics, they should be the Three Offices Five Zhu coins from the time of Emperor Wu; the era matches, but they are too uniform.

What is more critical is that the seven or eight coins are basically identical, with even the wear marks from circulation in the exact same spots.

At a glance, these are modern imitations.

"I reckon they raided a den of copper coin counterfeiters and scooped them all up at once!" Lin Sicheng looked them over: "It looks like they were machine-molded and then cast using the Lost-wax Casting method."

Huang Zhifeng and Wang Qi Zhi took a look and nodded in unison.

The Lost-wax Casting method has existed since the Spring and Autumn period; its advantage is delicate patterns, but its disadvantage is that each mold produces only one item. If the ancients had used Lost-wax Casting to mint copper coins, the Craftsmen would have been exhausted to death long ago.

In modern times, of course, it is very simple: find a real coin, use a computer to create a mold, and you can cast dozens or hundreds in minutes. Then, following the alloy ratio of ancient coins, use ancient methods to recast them. That is why this phenomenon occurs where the coins look extremely real, yet there are many "twins."

If they aren't placed together and are sold individually, even experts will still be fooled.

"What about the rust?" Wu Lin stood behind and peered, "How do they imitate that?"

Lin Sicheng replied without hesitation: "First, use fire to burn them to form black Copper Oxide, then wrap the copper coins in vinegar and mud; the reaction produces basic copper carbonate."

Wu Lin nodded: This kid really knows his stuff.

Continuing to sift through them, after flipping for a while, Lin Sicheng picked one up: "Teacher, look!"

Wang Qi Zhi took it, stared at it for a long while, and his eyes lit up with a "Zeng!": A Zhu-head Five Zhu?

This is a genuine misprint coin.

Early in the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty, the implementation of the "level-pushing method" (similar to a planned economy) led to soaring prices, forcing them to increase the intensity of coin minting.

Huo Guang ordered the Three Offices to set up new coin kilns in Shanglin Park and cast new sand molds. Perhaps because they weren't preserved well, the initial master mold was slightly deformed, causing all the daughter molds to be deformed as well: the top horizontal stroke of the character "Zhu" in "Five Zhu" has both ends slightly flicked upward.

But only a few years after they were minted, Huo Guang presided over the "Salt and Iron Conference," followed by reforms. After domestic prices gradually fell, the later coin kilns were abolished, so basically not many were minted.

It is a bona fide misprint coin, and very few have circulated; the market price is basically on par with a Western Han Gold Five Zhu.

Just this one piece could trade for three apartments in the center of Xijing City...

"Rare indeed, I've only heard of it; this is the first time I've seen the real thing!"

Wang Qi Zhi looked at it over and over, confirmed it wasn't a later imitation, then beckoned and handed the copper coin to the Quality Inspector.

Only at this moment did Huang Zhifeng and Chen Fen realize this copper coin was a Zhu-head Five Zhu.

It is quite normal: this type of copper coin existed for too short a time, and there is absolutely no record of it in ancient literature. It wasn't until the 1974 excavation of the tomb of Liu Jian, the Prince of Guangyang (grandson of Emperor Wu, Liu Che, who rebelled during the reign of Emperor Zhao and committed suicide after failing), that it was unearthed for the first time.

Even Wang Qi Zhi had never seen the physical object; if not for Lin Sicheng's reminder, he would never have thought of "Zhu-head Five Zhu."

Ren Qiuyu and Wu Lin were even more bewildered.

That is also normal: Researchers don't know everything; there are always blind spots in knowledge that one cannot reach...

A man's happiness is actually very simple; this single copper coin completely ignited the interest of the three men, and the three of them each occupied a side, picking through them non-stop.

At first, it was quite normal, but after a short while, the three women discovered a difference: Huang Zhifeng was a bit slow, holding one in his hand and needing to examine it for a good while. Sometimes, after observing the fine details, he would even recall and think about it again.

Wang Qi Zhi was slightly faster: look at it, touch it, then shine a Magnifying Glass on it, and he could basically reach a conclusion.

Lin Sicheng, however, was surprisingly fast: pick one up, take a look, and set it to the side. Pick up another, take a look, and set it to the side again.

In no time at all, several small piles had accumulated on the empty table in front of him.

Chen Fen looked down: "What's the difference?"

Lin Sicheng's hands didn't stop: "Modern imitations, post-Emperor Xuan and Eastern Han Five Zhu, non-official folk circulation, early unearthed, not unearthed in Xijing..."

Does that mean these were not unearthed from the Zhang Anshi Tomb?

Chen Fen was stunned for a moment: "Not unearthed in Xijing?"

"Right!" Lin Sicheng nodded, "The soil quality is different, the degree of corrosion, and the composition of the copper rust are naturally different!"

Chen Fen naturally knew the logic, but the problem was: this fast?

Ren Qiuyu and Wu Lin looked at each other, their faces full of astonishment...