Characters Yang Bi // Jiu (“9”) left. 55mm, 4.4 grams. Hartill 3.129 var.

Rare type. Pale green patina, but hard to scan. Clear characters. This variety, with large characters and “bi” written in the middle (and not on the left), is not in Hartill. With the furnace number “9” (see Hartill p.26) on the reverse.

The Zhao state (403–222 BCE) was one of the major powers of China’s Warring States period, occupying territory across modern Shanxi, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. Originally a branch of the Jin aristocracy, Zhao became independent when Jin was partitioned into Han, Wei, and Zhao in 403 BCE. Zhao was notable for its adoption of nomadic cavalry tactics, making it a formidable military force on the northern frontier. Under King Wuling (r. 325–299 BCE), Zhao famously implemented the “Hu clothing and horse-riding” reforms, modernizing its army by adopting steppe-style cavalry warfare. Though Zhao enjoyed periods of strength and territorial expansion, it suffered severe losses in the Battle of Changping (260 BCE) against Qin, where hundreds of thousands of its troops were massacred. Weakened by this defeat, Zhao gradually declined until it was conquered by Qin in 222 BCE, shortly before Qin unified China.

Unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic.