Chinese Ancient Coins Academic Exchange Delegation Visits France and Austria

o further strengthen non-governmental cultural exchanges， a Chinese delegation visited France and Austria from September 23 to 30 for academic exchange on ancient coin. They had fruitful exchanges with coin experts of the two countries at the invitation of the France-China Culture and Art Exchange Centre and the Austria-China Friendship Association for Culture and Art Exchange.

This academic exchange was jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC， the China Numismatic Society and the Numismatic Association of the Foreign Ministry of China， and was organized by the China Association of Numismatic Charms （CANC）. A team of coin experts led by CANC President Lu Xin also took part in the exchange.

The National Library of France is one of the largest libraries in the world and its coin collection is second only to the British Museum. The visit to its Coins， Medals and Antiques Department and the academic exchange were the main highlight of the delegation’s program.

The delegation was received by Frédérique Duyrat， the department’s new director， and Thierry de Crussol， the former director. Accompanied by the latter， the delegation toured the exhibits and then went to his studio for an on-the-spot authentication of the ancient Chinese folk-custom coins collected by the library. They discovered some fakes， and those coins with specific collection dates held by the library provided new references for their study.

The China-France Coins Academic Seminar was held by the Paris Diderot University on the same day. Thierry de Crussol and Zhang Ruo-ning， head of the CPAFFC delegation， addressed the seminar， while Chinese and French experts elaborated their opinions. Thierry de Crussol introduced the ancient Chinese folk-custom coins collected by the National Library of France； Secretary General Wang Yongsheng of the China Numismatic Society expressed his points of view on the origin of the Silk Road， the connotation， development stage， characteristics and inspiration of the Silk Road coins in the context of historical East-West exchanges and the convergence of the coin systems of the East and the West started from the Crusade of Alexander the Great and Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian’s trip to the “West” （in the Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE）. After the speeches， participants also discussed the concept of the Silk Road coins， extension of folk-custom coins， and etc.

The delegation visited the coins department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien （Museum of Art History in Vienna） and the National Mint of Austria. Funded by the Habsburgs， the construction of the museum started in 1872 and was opened to the public in 1891. As one of the museums with the most kinds of painting and decorative arts collections in the world， it has many European art treasures collected by the Habsburgs Court over hundreds of years. There are over 400，000 pieces of precious ancient coins collected by the Coin Exhibition Room of the museum.

Having discussions with the National Mint of Austria was another important exchange activity. Founded more than 800 years ago， it is the oldest mint in Europe still in operation. It is famed for its fine craftsmanship. The head of the Mint introduced its history and showed the exquisite commemorative coins it had cast.

Besides traditional gold and silver coins， it has also produced precious metal commemorative coins in colors， including the well known Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Series of Gold and Silver Coins. In recent years， the mint has developed the Habsburgs Crown Series of Gold Coins， European Legend Series of Silver Coins and the Prehistoric Creatures Series， all greatly favored by collectors.