Two Dealers of Ancient Coins

By Liu Liangcheng

In an alley beside Shayibake Street, a young imam, Luz, runs his unusual business, the trade of ancient coins.When you enter his house through an inconspicuous wooden door, you find yourself in a maze consisting of tiny rooms.Then you will see all the coins—those of different periods over the last 2,000 years from Kuqa.He has coppers from the Han Dynasty from central China, and some gold and silver coins from various countries and dynasties left by merchants who traveled along the ancient Silk Road.Luz is a dealer rather than a collector, but he has stored the “l(fā)ess marketable” goods at home.As time has gone by, the contents of the young imam's boxes and cabinets have become more extensive than that of any common collector, in terms of both quantity and variety.

As Luz seldom leaves Kuqa, he has no idea what the price of a Qiuci copper is in the market of Guangzhou or Beijing.He just knows that he bought the coins with not so much money, and would be happy enough to accept a “reasonable” offer.His major customer is Miss Xiaolan who lives in the new district of the town.She has been a businesswoman dealing in ancient coins for more than ten years, and knows well about the “outside” market.Xiaolan doesn't ask Luz his purchasing price of coins； she only lets the imam name a price, and then accepts it if she thinks the deal could be profitable.

沙依巴克街一條小巷子里，年輕阿訇盧茲做著古幣生意。從一扇不起眼的小木門進(jìn)去，里面是一間套一間迷宮般的小房子。在盧茲家里，可以看到庫(kù)車兩千多年來各時(shí)期的錢幣、自漢代以來中原各朝代的銅幣，以及從古絲綢之路上過往商人留下的許多國(guó)家和王朝的金幣銀幣。盧茲不做收藏，只是倒賣。暫時(shí)賣不掉的留在家里，日積月累，他留下的古幣已經(jīng)成箱成柜，不計(jì)其數(shù)。

盧茲阿訇很少離開庫(kù)車，不大知道一枚龜茲銅錢在廣州、北京的幣市是什么價(jià)。他廉價(jià)收來，能賺一個(gè)自己滿意的數(shù)目就出手，主要的買主是新城里的小蘭姑娘。小蘭做了十幾年古幣生意，知道外面行情。她很少打聽盧茲多少錢從別人手里收來這些東西，常常是盧茲說一個(gè)價(jià)，小蘭覺得有賺頭便成交。

盧茲早先做舊地毯生意，是小蘭把他引入古幣這一行當(dāng)?shù)模瑫r(shí)間大概是九十年代初。盧茲在鄉(xiāng)下收購(gòu)舊地毯，順便撿了半袋子銅錢，回來后也沒當(dāng)回事，見銹跡斑斑的，便倒在石灰盆中浸泡。這事不知怎么讓小蘭打問到了，以五毛錢一枚的價(jià)格全部買了去。

聰明的盧茲阿訇不久便打問清楚了，小蘭從他手中買走的銅錢是新疆鑄的“建中大歷”，全國(guó)僅發(fā)現(xiàn)兩枚，每枚市價(jià)五千到一萬元。小蘭一下購(gòu)得三百枚，成了錢幣界一件大事。這批古錢富了小蘭，也使盧茲阿訇從此改行，專營(yíng)起錢幣生意。他的生活也從那時(shí)起一年年好轉(zhuǎn)起來，一開始騎毛驢、坐驢車下去找錢，后來改騎摩托車。房子也由早先的一間，擴(kuò)大到現(xiàn)在的許多間。他和小蘭成了庫(kù)車錢幣行的一對(duì)好搭檔。

盧茲漢語(yǔ)說得不好，只會(huì)幾句簡(jiǎn)單的，無法到外地做錢幣生意。小蘭也只懂幾句簡(jiǎn)單的維語(yǔ)，很少親自到下面的村子里收購(gòu)錢幣。他們自然而然地做起聯(lián)手生意：一個(gè)跑鄉(xiāng)下，一個(gè)守城里。庫(kù)車遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)近近的村子以及和田、阿克蘇、喀什的大小村鎮(zhèn)，經(jīng)常能看見盧茲和他那輛紅色摩托車的影子。那些大戶人家的宅院、沒落貴族后裔的破房子、廢品收購(gòu)站以及銅匠鋪中都有可能出現(xiàn)好東西。盧茲見什么收什么，只要是他認(rèn)為的好東西：古錢、舊銅器、金銀元寶、首飾、羊皮書……統(tǒng)統(tǒng)弄回家。小蘭坐守城中，從盧茲弄回的大堆破爛中找尋自己需要的東西。有些古幣盧茲不認(rèn)識(shí)，很便宜就讓小蘭買走。好在盧茲聰明好學(xué)，吃一次虧就長(zhǎng)一次見識(shí)。他除了向同行請(qǐng)教，還專門學(xué)習(xí)漢字，翻閱錢幣書籍，漸漸地懂得了一些錢幣知識(shí)和價(jià)值。他和小蘭的關(guān)系逐漸變成兩個(gè)錢幣內(nèi)行的交易。

Luz was in the business of second-hand carpets before Xiaolan introduced him to the trade of ancient coins in the early 1990s.Luz once found half a bag of coppers when he went to the countryside to buy old carpets.He didn't take it seriously, and only soaked the coins in a basin full of lime water in order to get rid of the rust.When Xiaolan somehow heard of this, she visited Luz and bought the coins at a price of 0.5 yuan each.

Our young imam is a smart guy, though.He soon figured out that the coppers Xiaolan bought from him were “Jianzhong Dali” minted in Xinjiang, and that before his lucky discovery, only two pieces of such coins were known in the whole nation, the market price of each being 5,000 to 10,000 yuan.Xiaolan's purchase of 300 Jianzhong Dali coins became a huge event among the coin collectors, and instantly made her rich.

Luz changed his business scope to become a specialized merchant of ancient coins.His living standard has improved gradually since then, as a motorcycle has replaced his donkey cart, and his single room has multiplied into a maze of rooms.The imam and Xiaolan became good partners in the coin business in Kuqa.

Luz can speak only a few simple sentences of Mandarin Chinese, therefore he is not able to do coin business outside his home area.On the other hand, Xiaolan knows very few Uighur words, and cannot purchase coins directly from the villagers herself.Naturally they started a joint business: one went around the countryside, while the other took care of things in the city.From then on, in the large and small villages near Kuqa, Hotan, Aksu, and Kashgar, you could often see Luz on his red motorcycle.The backyards of large families, the deserted houses where aristocrats lived, the recycling stations, and the copper-smith's shops: they could all be the sites of hidden treasure, and Luz visits them to buy whatever he thinks may be good.Then he takes all of what he buys back to the city—ancient coins, old copper wares, gold and silver ingots, jewelry, parchments—and lets Xiaolan pick what she needs.Sometimes the imam sells coins he doesn't recognize to his partner at a very low price, but fortunately, he is such a quick learner who not only asks his peers for advice, but also learns the Chinese characters and reads reference books.Now the young Uighur has sufficient knowledge about coins, and the trade between he and Xiaolan has become an expert-to-expert one.

兩個(gè)古幣商多少年來就這樣倒騰著這片古老土地上的錢幣，漢、魏、晉時(shí)期的和田馬錢，龜茲“漢龜二體錢”（錢幣上鑄有漢文、龜茲文兩種文字），察合臺(tái)汗國(guó)錢，十七世紀(jì)后期的準(zhǔn)噶爾“普爾錢”，以及貴霜、波斯、拜占庭等古老王朝的錢幣，都在他們手中匯聚，然后“流通”到各地。

一枚庫(kù)車出土的古錢一般經(jīng)過這樣幾個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)到達(dá)廣州、北京的幣市：先是一個(gè)農(nóng)民翻地時(shí)，一坎土曼（新疆鋤地、挖土的農(nóng)具）刨出來，有時(shí)一枚，有時(shí)數(shù)枚或一堆。接著是聽到消息的盧茲阿訇連夜騎摩托車去找挖到古幣的人。往往去晚了，錢幣已經(jīng)到另一個(gè)錢販子手里；也可能一夜之間轉(zhuǎn)了三次手，從一個(gè)村莊倒賣到另一個(gè)村莊，價(jià)錢翻了幾個(gè)跟頭，盧茲只好多花錢買回來。不管多貴買來，盧茲都會(huì)加上一個(gè)自己滿意的數(shù)字再賣給小蘭。

小蘭一般每星期去一趟盧茲家，盧茲有了新貨也會(huì)及時(shí)打電話給她。小蘭看過錢幣的種類、品相，馬上打電話給在廣州做事的丈夫，丈夫報(bào)給她那邊的價(jià)位。小蘭一般不跟盧茲討價(jià)還價(jià)，他們合作十幾年，早熟悉對(duì)方的脾氣，她覺得價(jià)格合適，立馬成交。頂多五天后，這些古幣便通過郵政快件到達(dá)廣州幣市。

這個(gè)過程中賺得最少的是挖到古幣的人，雖然他只投入了一點(diǎn)兒力氣，還是意外之財(cái)，但這一坎土曼刨出來的，或許是他一生唯一的一次好運(yùn)氣。若賣到幾千塊錢，就足以改變一家人的生活。他僅賣了幾十塊錢，夠買一只羊腿，只改善了一家人一天的生活。不過，這已經(jīng)讓他非常滿意了。

賺得最多的要算最終擁有這些錢幣的人。一枚古錢經(jīng)過無數(shù)人的手，價(jià)格肯定高得不能再高。他買回來，往上標(biāo)一個(gè)更高的價(jià)，擺在自己的珍藏柜里。他加的這部分，或許已經(jīng)超過所有經(jīng)手者賺的錢數(shù)總和。這樣的錢，不是孤品也是世存無幾，定多高的價(jià)都由擁有者說了算。最好的絕品最后都是有價(jià)無市，不管有沒有人要，能否賣出去，擁有者都會(huì)把他增加的那部分算進(jìn)自己的利潤(rùn)財(cái)產(chǎn)中。這是真正懂古錢的人，要的只是一個(gè)有無限擴(kuò)張可能的錢數(shù)，而不是可以拿在手中的一沓紙幣。這時(shí)，一枚古錢又跟它未出土?xí)r一樣，深埋在一個(gè)人手里。（摘自《半路上的庫(kù)車》漓江出版社）

Thus the two dealers have been buying and selling the coins of ancient lands for years.They gather Hotan horse coins from the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties, the “Han-Qiuci coins” (both Chinese and Qiuci words are inscribed on the coins), Chagatai Khanate's coins, Junggar's “Pu'er Coins” minted in the late 17th century, and coins from other ancient states such as Guishuang, Persia, and Byzantium.Then they let these coins “circulate” to various places.

This is the typical route of the circulating coins: from Kuqa to the market of Guangzhou or Beijing: a peasant digs them up with a Kantuman shovel, sometimes one or a few pieces, and sometimes many.Then our imam Luz who hears about it will ride his motorcycle all night to find the peasant, and hopefully buys them before another dealer comes.Actually, Luz is often late—the coins could have been in the hands of his competitor, and even been sold and resold three times in a night, from one village to another, at higher and higher prices.So the imam has to spend much more money to buy them.However expensive the coins may become, Luz will add an additional price (which is his “satisfactory” profit) when he sells them to Xiaolan.

Then the coins are in the hands of Xiaolan.She usually goes to Luz's house once a week, or when Luz calls her.After checking the categories and conditions of the coins, Xiaolan will call her husband who works in Guangzhou to get the market price there.Xiaolan rarely bargains with Luz, as they have cooperated for more than ten years and know each other well.If she thinks the price Luz asks for is reasonable, they will make the deal.At most five days later, these ancient coins will arrive at the market in Guangzhou in an express parcel.

The person who earns the least in the process is the peasant who digs the coins up.The unexpected fortune his Kantuman shovel brings him might be a once in a lifetime thing for him.If he sells the coins for a few thousand yuan, the money would be enough to change the life of his family.But he sells them for only a few dozen yuan, which is enough for buying a lamb leg.In this way, he could improve his family's living standard for just one day, but it may seem quite satisfactory to him already.

The person who earns the most is the one who owns the coins ultimately.After all the buying and selling, the price of the ancient coins finally reaches its peak.He buys them, gives them an even higher price, and then puts them in his collection showcase.The new price may be double the total amount of the profits earned by all those sellers； but as these coins must be very rare, or even unique, it is all up to the owner to decide the price.In the end, the best coins will not enter the market again, but the owner will still do the calculations, and include the coins' added value in his possessions.This is the person who really understands ancient coins: he wants the infinite possibility of value instead of a certain sum of money.Now an ancient coin is buried deep in a man's hand, just as it was before the excavation.(FromKuqa on the Way, Lijiang Publishing House.Translation: Wang Xiaoke.)