镇西堡杜蒋窝棚村Zhen Xi Bao Du Jiang Wo Peng Cun

出土年份：2011；总数：500；3月18日，一位文物爱好者带着25枚春秋战国时期的燕刀币来到铁岭博物馆，请专家鉴别。而本报记者通过与这位不愿透露姓名的文物爱好者沟通获悉，半年前同期出土的刀币总数估计应在500枚以上，绝大部分已不知去向。出土刀币遭到村民哄抢。据了解，这批珍贵的刀币是在位于铁岭县镇西堡镇东北的杜蒋窝棚村发现的。它无意地现身于半年前一次村内施工。这位文物爱好者是于近期回乡省亲时得知这一信息，而据其亲属讲，在村里一次挖掘施工中，抓勾机勾碎一件硬物，“大钱儿”散落了一地，当即被现场围观的村民哄抢一空。而这名懂行的文物爱好者通过亲属的描述得知，村民所谓的“大钱儿”是极为珍贵的春秋战国时期流行于燕赵间的青铜货币。品相完好的刀币目前的市场价值在每枚500元左右，即使是残损也可卖到200元以上。而它的出土地点、数量、容器所包含的历史讯息和研究价值更远远大于其本身，忧心于此，这位不便表露身份的文物爱好者带着亲属手中的25枚刀币，告知了市文物部门。一次性出土如此数量刀币，在我市尚属首次从实物目测可以看出，刀币的体态较大，长度超过成年人的手掌，大致长度为13到14厘米之间，一面有“明”字字样，柄部有3道纵向纹，下有环孔。铁岭博物馆副馆长周向永介绍说，刀币为春秋战国时期通行于燕、赵、齐地的古代货币。而“明”字钱纹，说明这一刀币为燕地特有的“明刀币”，古货币上文字多有指示其产地的作用，而“明”字所指正是春秋战国时期燕国发祥地辽西一带。在中国古代北方，被中原文化称作“东夷”的北方游牧民族，在生活中常解下腰间的小配刀来易物，当时北方的青铜资源匮乏，青铜制的随身配刀亦属珍贵器物，随后演化并固定成为北方地区的交易货币。刀币的出土，在辽北考古上曾见位于新台子的邱台遗址，但数量不多。而一次性出土量达500枚以上的在我市尚属首次。

Excavation year: 2011; total count: 500; On March 18, a cultural-relic enthusiast brought 25 Spring and Autumn-Warring States period Yan knife coins to the Tieling Museum for expert appraisal. Through communication with this enthusiast, who preferred to remain anonymous, this reporter learned that the total number of knife coins unearthed at the same time about six months earlier was estimated at over 500, most of which have since disappeared to unknown whereabouts. The unearthed knife coins were seized upon and scrambled for by villagers. It is understood that this batch of precious knife coins was discovered in Dujiang Wopeng Village, northeast of Zhenxibao Town, Tieling County. It came to light unexpectedly during a construction project in the village about six months earlier. The enthusiast learned of this news while visiting relatives in his hometown recently; according to his relatives, during an excavation at the village, an excavator bucket smashed a hard object and "big coins" scattered across the ground, which were immediately scrambled for and taken by villagers who had gathered to watch. This knowledgeable enthusiast, through his relatives' description, realized that what the villagers called "big coins" were in fact extremely precious bronze currency that had circulated between the Yan and Zhao states during the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period. A well-preserved knife coin currently fetches a market value of around 500 yuan each, and even damaged ones can sell for over 200 yuan. Yet the find spot, quantity, and the historical information and research value contained in the container that held them are of far greater significance than the coins themselves; concerned about this, the enthusiast, who preferred not to reveal his identity, brought the 25 knife coins in his relatives' possession and reported the matter to the municipal cultural relics department. A single find of this quantity of knife coins is the first of its kind in our city. Visual inspection of the physical objects shows the knife coins are relatively large in size, longer than an adult's palm, roughly 13 to 14 cm in length, with the character "Ming" on one face, three longitudinal ridges on the handle, and a ring hole below. Zhou Xiangyong, deputy director of the Tieling Museum, explained that knife coins were currency circulating in the Yan, Zhao, and Qi regions during the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period. The "Ming" character inscription indicates that this type of knife coin was unique to the Yan territory; ancient coin inscriptions often indicated their place of origin, and the character "Ming" points precisely to the Liaoxi region, the birthplace of the Yan state during the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period. In ancient northern China, the nomadic peoples of the north, referred to by Central Plains culture as the "Dongyi" (Eastern Barbarians), commonly used small utility knives worn at the waist to barter goods in daily life; bronze resources were scarce in the north at that time, so bronze utility knives worn on the person were also valuable objects, which subsequently evolved and became fixed as a form of exchange currency in the northern region. In the archaeology of northern Liaoning, knife coins have previously been found at the Qiutai site in Xintaizi, but not in large numbers. This is the first time in our city that a single find has yielded over 500 coins.