Authenticating antiques: The experience of Qing dynasty coin collectors

“What lengths the forgers go to! They produce items as large as yi and ding vessels; and as small as coins.” These are the bitter facts that greet the reader on the first page of the Guanguge quanbian 觀古閣泉辨 (Identifying the coins from the Guanguge), a pamphlet from 1873 which deals with the question of forgeries. Written by the eminent numismatist and collector Bao Kang 鮑康 (1810-1881), it gives the names of forgers of the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reign periods, describing their techniques. The manufacturing techniques varied, and some were more sophisticated than others. Following the kaozhengxue movement and Ruan Yuan's 阮元 (1764-1849) idea that the inscriptions on ancient bronzes were as important as the Nine Classics, scholars of the late Qing dynasty attached great importance to ancient objects bearing inscriptions. Numismatists thus created criteria for authenticating ancient coins, protecting themselves from forgeries.