Chinese coin hints at vast medieval trade route

The copper alloy “cash” coin of the Northern Song dynasty dates from 1008-1016
The copper alloy “cash” coin of the Northern Song dynasty dates from 1008-1016

A Chinese coin found in a Hampshire field suggests that medieval trade between England and the Far East was more extensive than previously thought, a historian has said.

The copper alloy “cash” coin of the Northern Song dynasty dates from 1008-1016, but is of a type that remained in wide circulation in China for several hundred years.

It is the second Chinese coin found in a medieval context in England and experts said that its discovery added weight to the idea that the two coins were genuine medieval losses and not dropped by modern collectors.

The coin was found by a detectorist near Petersfield and about 20 miles from the only other Chinese artefact from medieval England: a shard of blue and white porcelain from