万里封侯方穿花钱，背虎，清朝（公元1644–1911），31.2*1.6mm，重9.0g，中乾75。极少见。另：万里封侯花钱存世多种，多以龙凤纹为背。此处之钱不同：背穿左为虎，穿右为卷柜，内插文卷，穿下为吉祥花卉。按，万里封侯语出自南朝范瞱《后汉书·班超传》：“祭酒，布衣诸生耳，而当封侯万里之外。”班超为汉代著名军事家和外交家，可谓文武双全。此处之钱，当以虎喻武功，书卷喻文采，以表文武双全之志向，如此之品实乃花钱之仅见。 China: Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 CE), coin-shaped charm with square central hole, obverse inscribed Wan li feng hou (萬里封侯), reverse showing tiger, 31.2*1.6mm, 9.0g, Zhong Qian 75. Extremely rare. Note: Wan li feng hou is an expression first found in A Biography of Ban Chao included in A History of Posterior Han written by Fan Ye in the sixth century AD. Ban Chao (32–102 AD) was a famous military stragegist and diplomat during the Eastern Han period, as an embodiment of both military accomplishments and high literary talents. There are a few different types of charms with the same inscriptions. While they typically show the more common dragon and phoenix motif on the reverse, the present piece is thus far unique: The reverse of the coin shows a tiger on the left of the central hole representing military accomplishments and a cabinet holding roles of writing, representing literary talents.
