A gold offering coinChunhua period (990 to 994), Northern Song Dynastyincised to the top a charactersi (four),1.9cm diam., 11.5gProvenance: 北宋 「淳化元寳」童子拜觀音「四」字金幣Chunhua is the fourth reign title Emperor Taizong of Song used, dated from 990 to 994 during the Northern Song dynasty. The four characters,Chunhua yuan bao, are believed to be based on the Emperor's own calligraphy. It has been suggested that the Emperormissioned coins of this type as an offering when he visited Mount Wutai in Shandong Province for Buddhist ceremonies. Although the identities of the Buddhist deities on the reverse are not documented, the scene may represent 'tongzi bai Guanyin': Child of Wealth standing on the lotus base on the left offering prayers to Guanyin seated in dhyanasana on the right.Compare with three coins of the samemission, each incised with character one, two, and four, see Christie's, New York, 24 to 25 Mar 2022, lot 762. Examples are also found in the Shanxi Museum, seeRare Treasure in Shanxi Museum, Shanxi, 2005, no.230.「淳化」是北宋太宗趙匡義所用的第四個年號，在990至994年閒使用。據説「淳化元寳」四字是太宗的御筆親書。佛教自東漢傳入中國，在唐代發展興盛，但是五代時期由於戰亂而式微，到了北宋初年，又開始受到皇權的扶持。此枚金幣，據説是太宗淳化年間巡幸五台山時燒香敬佛專門鑄造的，充分顯示出宋政權對佛教的重視。此枚金幣正面的紋飾雖然沒有官方記載，但依稀可見一幅「童子拜觀音」的景象：左首童子雙手合十恭立而侍，右首觀音盤膝而坐，匏形背光，雙雙位于蓮座祥雲之上。比較三枚一組分刻「一」、「二」、「四」字相同金幣，見佳士得紐約，2022年3月24至25日，拍品762號。此外山西博物院亦珍藏若干，見《山西博物院珍粹》，山西人民出版社，2005年，編號230。