Mother money is the standard model money produced by the central and local finances when a large number of coins were minted in ancient times. According to the use of mother money as a model, mother money can be divided into three types, namely money sample, carved mother money and cast mother money. The money sample is a physical sample of the coin carefully carved from materials such as tin, ivory or mahogany based on the coin's design. Its purpose is to submit it to the court for the emperor's approval. Strictly speaking, the money sample cannot be counted as currency, because it is only used as a physical drawing to be submitted for review and approval and cannot be circulated. Coin samples are for the emperor's review. In theory, there should only be one sample of a type of coin, so the quantity is extremely rare and can hardly be seen in the trading market. The carving mother carved it according to the normative form of money stipulated by the imperial court. The face and back requirements were very strict, and the most famous calligrapher at the time, or the emperor himself, was invited to write money inscriptions and carve it into money. mold. After the carving mother is made and approved, the recasting begins. Re-casting cannot be done in large quantities. If it is re-cast too much, it will be deformed, so the money you can get out of it is also limited. The money turned out for the first time is called Zhu Mu. The mother money we usually talk about is cast mother money. If we talk about carved mother money, it has special meaning and is hand-carved. This is very different from ordinary cast mother money.
The difference between carved mother coins and cast mother coins is most obvious in the decorative content of the coins. The carved mother coins have exquisite inscriptions and deep characters. The strokes of each character are very clear, and there is no adhesion or blur. The strokes are thinner than those of the same version of circulating currency, and the details still retain traces of hand-engraving. The strokes of cast mother coins are also very clear, and the lines are relatively straight and deep. However, because cast mother coins are made by recasting, in order to make the outer edge and inner contours of the coins smooth and clean, they are usually cold processed, so the money surface is There will be traces of wear on it.
An obvious difference between mother money and bank money is the size and thickness of the coins. Since coins were struck in ancient times using a mold-casting method, the volume of the produced banknotes would be slightly smaller than the mother coins used as the sample. The size and thickness of mother money are larger than ordinary coins. When collecting mother coins, you should first pay attention to large coins that are larger than ordinary coins, and secondly, pay attention to heavy coins that are different in weight from ordinary coins.
Mother money is often mixed in with common currency, and coin collectors in the past did not pay enough attention to it, so there is always the possibility of missing it. Since the materials of mother coins are different from ordinary coins, the condition is generally better. However, due to the scarcity of the quantity, more efforts must be made to identify mother coins in terms of workmanship and size. Do not simply regard coins with good condition as mother coins.