Four gilt-bronze and silver coinages of various originsHan dynasty, Sasanian Empire, and Spain, 16th to 18th century2.8cm diam., 2.9cm wide, 4.1cm wide, and 4.5cm wide, the Spanish cobs 26g each (4).Provenance: 漢鎏金「五銖」錢、薩珊王朝五世紀銀幣、及西班牙十六至十八世紀銀幣As additional silver deposits were discovered in the colonial territories there was a pressing demand to export it to Spain as quickly as possible. To do this, starting in the reign of Philip II, the mints produced irregular coinage called cobs. A bar of silver was simply cut into chunks of the appropriate weight. These small sliver clumps were then treated as if they were finished planchets and were hammer struck between crude dies.The Sasanian Empire, due to its strategic location in the network of the silk roads, it occupied a crucial position in the trade of Eurasia continent. Its currency was legal tender throughout the continent, and as a result the Sassanian silver coins were found in numerous tombs and burial sites in modern-day China.波斯位於歐亞大陸之間，是東西方文化交流和商貿往來的重要樞紐。在薩珊王朝時期（公元224至651年），隨著絲綢之路的開通，與中國的交往更加頻繁。其薩珊銀幣其時在中東、東歐、中亞及中國西北作爲一種國際貨幣而廣汎流通。故在中國境内墓葬、窖藏中也多有發現，主要出土于絲綢之路沿綫附近。