Two large Chinese characters Wu Zhu (=5 zhus), inner rim BELOW the hole, outside rim / Blank, inside and outside rims. 25mm, 3.23 grams. Hartill #- (8.1 var); Gratzer/Fishman "One Thousand Years of Wu Zhu Coinage" #B1.10. SKU T2280-53209

The first of the Wu Zhus were cast in 118 BC by the order of the Han Emperor Wu Di (141-86 BC). Because the empire did not have any government foundries to cast coins, the casting was delegated to the Commanderies (Jun) and Principalities (Guo) - that is, the small private foundries in the provinces. Thus, these earliest Wu Zhu coins are known as Junguo Zhuqian.

The Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220-265 CE). It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty (9-23 CE) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 BC-9 CE) and Eastern Han (25-220 CE). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people". This coin is unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic.