Note 734 — Chapter V · Lydia
Reading edition
Cp. Babelon, Origines, p. 94, quoting Terrien de la Couperie, Brit. Mus. Cat. Chinese Coins, p. 4, on period before fourth century A.D. So also ibid. (Cat. Chinese Coins), p. xlviii. 5. Bonacossi, La Chine et les Chinois (1847), pp. 172–3, says there is no government mint: the precious metals are formed into ingots by private bankers: these ingots bear the name of districts, bankers, etc. To the present day Chinese bankers stamp foreign coins with their own countermarks, Babelon, Origines, pp. 121–2.