CHEMICAL COMPOS IT80N OF AHCIENT CH INESE COINS RICOVIRID FROM THI SHINAN SHIPWRECK

신안침몰선 인양 중국 동전의 화학조성

Between 1976 and 1984 approximately 26.7 tons of Chinese coins were recovered from a shipwreck which was found at the seabed of the Shin an area in the south-western coast of the Korean peninsula. Elements, Cu, Pb, Sn, Fe, Sb, As, Zn, Ag, Ni, Co and Mn, of 54 pieces of the coins were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy(ICP-AIS). The result shows that Ch, Pb, and Sn were found to be major elements roughly the coins with the ratio of 7 : 2 : 1, respectively. Trace elements were classified into 3 levels according to the avarage concentration : Fe,As and Sb(0.1-0.5%), Ag, Mi, Co and Zn(100-1000ppm) and Mn(10ppm). Some systematic tendencies are observed in the composition change with a function of their minting ages .The Wuzhu coins(오수전) from the Eastern Han dynasty(A.D.25-219 )are much more abundant in Cu than the coins of Tang dynasty(A.D.618-907) and later periods. Major element compositions of the Kai -tong Vuan-Bao(개통원보) coins from the Tang dynasty, were remarkably variable. In general, however, the Tang dynasty coins were much more abundant in Cu than the Song dynasty(A.S.S60-1279) coins. The amount of major elements Cu and Sn decreases while that of Pb in creasesby passage of age from the Bei Song dynasty(A.D.960-1127) to later Nam Song dynasty (A.D.1127-1279 ). It means that the quality of coins mere degraded. The amounts of trace elemends(Fe, As, Co, Hn) increases with the above age. High amounts of trace elements are supposed to be a reflection of immaturity of minting techniques or use of impurity-rich raw materials. The Jin dynasty(A.D.1125-1234) coins are found to be rich in Sn and thus contain Pb as the third component. It is quite different from the coins of the Song dynasty. The Zhi-dai Tong-Bao(지대통보) coins of the Yuan dynasty from A.0.1310 are much more abundant in Cu and Sn than those of the Nam Song dynasty .