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[[File:打馬所用的打馬錢.jpg|thumb|打馬所用的打馬錢|Illustrations of Chinese horse coins.]]
[[File:Section 20.9 Two character obverse, horse reverse - John Ferguson.jpg|thumb|right|A horse coin with the inscription "Ch'u Huang" (The Great Yellow Horse).]]

'''Horse coins''' ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 馬錢; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 马钱; [[Pinyin]]: ''mǎ qián'') are a type of [[Yansheng Coin|Chinese numismatic charm]] that originated in the [[Song dynasty]] presumably as gambling tokens although many literary figures wrote about these coins their usage has always been failed to be mentioned by them, most [[horse]] coins tend to be round coins 3 centimeters in diameter with a circular or square hole in the middle of the coin. The horses featured on horse coins are depicted in various positions such as lying on the ground sleep, turning their head while neighing, or galloping forward with their tails rising high. it is currently unknown how horse coins were actually used though it is speculated that Chinese horse coins were actually used as game board pieces or gambling counters. Horse coins are most often manufactured from copper or bronze, but in a few documented cases they may also be made from animal horns or ivory. The horse coins produced during the Song dynasty are considered to be those of the best quality and craftsmanship and tend be made from better metal than the horse coins produced after.<ref name="PrimaltrekHorseCoins">{{cite web|url= http://primaltrek.com/horse.html|title= Horse Coins - 馬錢.|date=16 November 2016|accessdate=27 March 2018|work= Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture)|language=en}}</ref><ref>Sportstune (Chinese charms) [http://sportstune.com/chinese/charms/20.html Chinese charms, section 20]. 20. HORSE CHARMS. Retrieved: 02 May 2018.</ref> Some horse coins would feature the name of the famous horses they depicted. It is estimated that there are over three hundred variants of the horse coin.<ref>台灣Wiki (TaiwanWiki) > 百科分類 > 錢幣 > 收藏 > 古玩 > 古幣 > 馬錢。[http://www.twwiki.com/wiki/%E9%A6%AC%E9%8C%A2 馬錢]. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in [[Mandarin Chinese]] using [[Traditional Chinese characters]])</ref><ref>[http://bbs.tiexue.net/post_2349326_1.html 鐵血社區]. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in [[Mandarin Chinese]] using [[Traditional Chinese characters]])</ref><ref>[http://www.gucn.com/Service_CurioStall_Show.asp?Id=222335 中國古玩網]. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in [[Mandarin Chinese]] using [[Traditional Chinese characters]])</ref> Some horse coins contained only an image of a horse while others also included an image of the rider and others had inscriptions which identify the horse or rider. During the beginning of the year of the horse in 2002 Chinese researchers Jian Ning and Wang Liyan of the National Museum of Chinese History wrote articles on horse coins the "China Cultural Relics Newspaper", the researchers noted that they found it a pity that the holes in the coins covered the saddles of the horses as this could've revealed more about ancient horse culture. Horse coins from the Song dynasty are the horse coins that are produced at the highest quality while horse coins from subsequent dynasties tend to be inferior compared to them.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.china.org.cn/english/29359.htm|title= Legacy of Horse-drawn Money.|date=25 March 2002|accessdate=2 May 2018|work= China Daily (Travel in China).|language=en}}</ref>

Horse coins often depicted famous horses from [[History of China|Chinese history]] or [[Horse in Chinese mythology|famous horses from Chinese mythology]], while commemorative horse coins would also feature riders, such as the horse coin that features “General [[Yue Yi]] of the State of Yan” commemorating the event that a [[Yan (state)|Yan]] general attempted to conquer the city of [[Jimo District|Jimo]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://primaltrek.com/blog/2011/05/18/battle-of-jimo-horse-coin/|title= “Battle of Jimo” Horse Coin.|date=18 May 2011|accessdate=27 March 2018|work= Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture)|language=en}}</ref> Another horse coin depicts the Chinese mythological horse ''long ju'' (龍駒), this horse was first mentioned in the "[[Rites of Zhou]]".<ref name="PrimaltrekHorseCoins"/> The Rites of Zhou describes a "dragon colt" as a horse which is "more than 8 chi (尺) tall" when its measured from its front hoof to the shoulder. One chi, during the [[Zhou dynasty]] period, was about 16.5 centimeters in the [[metric system]].<ref name="PrimaltrekHorseCoins"/> 

It is rare for horse coins to also feature images of horses in armour but a few rare examples from the Song dynasty exist (and it is even rarer for these coins to also feature a [[saddle]]) as well as some from the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] [[Yuan dynasty]] that feature horses wearing typical Mongolian horse armour. As horse coins from the Yuan dynasty are extremely rare there hasn't been much research undertaken in determining their usage and origins.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://primaltrek.com/blog/2015/02/06/horse-in-armour-horse-coins/|title= Horse in Armour Horse Coins.|date=6 February 2015|accessdate=2 May 2018|work= Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture)|language=en}}</ref>

== List of horse coins ==
{{Expand list|date=February 2020}}

List of types of horse coins depicting famous horses:<ref name="PrimaltrekHorseCoins"/> 

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%"
!colspan=5| List of variants of horse coins  
|- 
! Transliteration !! [[Traditional Chinese]] !! [[Simplified Chinese]] !! Literal [[English language|English]] translation !! Image 
|- 
| Qin jiang san qi || 秦將散騎 || 秦将散骑 || "Followers of General [[Bai Qi]]" || 
|- 
| Yan jiang yue yi || 燕將樂毅 || 燕将乐毅 || "General [[Yue Yi]] of the [[State of Yan]]"{{Efn|The name is sometimes alternatively translated as "General Le Yi of the State of Yan".}} || 
|- 
| Piao niao || 驃嫋 || 骠袅 || "Fast and slender" || 
|- 
| Wu zhui || 烏騅 || 乌骓 || "Black spotted horse" || 
|- 
| Tang jiang qian li || 唐將千里 || 唐将千里 || "Tang General 1,000 ''[[Li (unit)|li]]''" || 
|- 
| Zhen guan shi ji<br>Jue bo || 貞觀十驥<br>訣波 || 贞观十骥<br>诀波 || "Ten thoroughbreds of Zhen Guan"{{Efn|Zhen Guan was the [[Chinese era name|era name]] used by [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Emperor Taizong]] of the [[Tang dynasty]].}}<br>"Bursting as a wave" || [[File:91619 SMVK EM objekt 1299011 (1).jpg|75px]]<br>[[File:91619 SMVK EM objekt 1299011.jpg|75px]] 
|- 
| Qian li || 千里 || 千里 || "1,000 ''li''" ||  
|- 
| Qian li zhi ma || 千里之馬 || 千里之马 || "1,000 ''li'' horse" || 
|- 
| Long ju || 龍駒 || 龙驹 || "Dragon's Colt" || 
|- 
!colspan=5| [[King Mu of Zhou|King Mu]] of [[Western Zhou]]'s horses<br>("The eight outstanding steeds"){{Efn|[[King Mu of Zhou]] had once rode on a chariot with eight horses that were known as the "eight outstanding steeds". The names of these eight horses can be found on Chinese and other [[East Asia]]n horse coins although there is some disagreement as to which set of eight names which were passed down through history is the correct version. The names of King Mu of Zhou's eight horses described their outstanding characteristics and included "Beyond Earth", "Rush by Night", "Windswept Plumes",  "Finer than Flashing Light", "Faster than Shadow", "Wing Bearer", "Faster than Light", and "Rising Mist".  Other historical Chinese texts list King Mu of Zhou's horses as "Bay Steed", "Smoked Ebony", "Skewbald Chestnut", "Great Yellow", and "Green Ear".}}
|- 
| Qu Huang || 渠黃 || 渠黄 || "Great Yellow" || [[File:Section 20.9 Two character obverse, horse reverse - John Ferguson.jpg|75px]] 
|- 
| Lu er || 綠耳 || 绿耳 || "Green ear" || 
|- 
| || || || "Beyond Earth" || 
|- 
| || || || "Rush by Night" || 
|- 
| || || || "Windswept Plumes" || 
|- 
| || || || "Finer than Flashing Light" || 
|- 
| || || || "Faster than Shadow" || 
|- 
| || || || "Wing Bearer" || 
|- 
| || || || "Faster than Light" || 
|- 
| || || || "Rising Mist" ||  
|- 
| || || || "Bay Steed" || 
|- 
| || || || "Smoked Ebony" || 
|- 
| || || || "Skewbald Chestnut" || 
|}

== Notes == 
{{Notes}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Joe Cribb]], "Horse Coins: Pieces for Da Ma, the Chinese Board-Game 'Driving the Horses'", in [[Irving Finkel]] (ed.) ''Ancient Board Games in Perspective: papers from the 1990 [[British Museum]] colloquium, with additional contributions'', ([[London]]: British Museum Press, 2007), pp. 116-124. {{ISBN|978-0-7141-1153-7}}.
* Andrew Lo, "An Introduction to Board Games in Late Imperial China", in Irving Finkel (ed.) ''Ancient Board Games in Perspective: papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions'', (London: British Museum Press, 2007), pp. 125-132. {{ISBN|978-0-7141-1153-7}}.

== External links ==
{{Commonscat|Horse coins}}
* [[:File:Kecho Ruiji - Book on Horse Coins.pdf|Public domain books about horse coins]]. ([[Wikimedia Commons]])

{{Chinese exonumia}}
{{Chinese currency and coinage}}
{{Asian numismatic charms}}

[[Category:Amulets]]
[[Category:Chinese numismatic charms]]
[[Category:Chinese numismatics]]