While I was identifying the ancient coins, the middle-aged man opposite me remained calm and composed, as if he had already predicted that we would lose this round.

Since conventional identification methods are not working, I will have to resort to further methods.

The simplest of these is the spray gun.

If you heat it with fire, the rust on the coin will definitely change. However, this will also leave burn marks on the genuine coin, since the coin is too thin to withstand high temperatures.

In such a contest, if I use this tactic, even if I win, I will lose some of my morale and defeat the purpose of the contest.

"when!"

Seeing that I didn't react for a long time, the other middle-aged man across from me deliberately put his teacup on the table, making a lot of noise.

I knew this was the other person's impatient urging. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw water droplets shaking out of their teacup, and suddenly it dawned on me: "Monkey, get me a basin of water!"

"Why!"

The monkey agreed and quickly walked towards Wei Shengnan.

While the monkey was fetching water, Su Jialiang remained sitting upright, looking calm and composed, but his foot under the table was gently kicking me, as if asking if I was confident.

I stared at the middle-aged man opposite me with the same nonchalant expression, while stepping on Su Jialiang's foot.

To be honest, the things they brought out looked so real that I wasn't really sure about them.

But as the saying goes, even if I lose the argument, I can't lose face. Even if I really can't tell the difference between the fakes, I can't lose to them in terms of momentum.

Soon, the monkey returned to the room carrying an enamel basin full of water: "Young Master Duan, where should I put this?"

"here!"

I tapped the table with my hand, and after the monkey put the water basin down, I took out a tissue from my pocket, tore the plastic bag into several pieces, laid them in the water, and put a copper coin on top.

"Gulp!"

The copper coin crushed the plastic and sank to the bottom of the basin.

I fished the copper coin out, carefully wiped my hands with a tissue, and then tore off a larger piece of plastic and placed it in the water.

The copper coin sank to the bottom again, and I continued to do the same thing.

The others in the room were completely bewildered by my actions, seemingly unable to understand why I was playing in the water in such a tense atmosphere.

After several attempts, I finally managed to get the copper coin to float on the plastic.

"call!"

I saw the copper coin floating up, took a deep breath, carefully took it down, and then put another one on top.

It can also float.

After one round of testing, all nine copper coins floated.

We continued testing by reducing the area of ​​the plastic; this time, only one floated.

I held the single copper coin in my hand and examined it carefully for a long time before casually tossing it onto the table.

The middle-aged man looked down at me with disdain as I tossed out the copper coin: "You've figured it out?"

I released my grip, letting the remaining copper coins clatter onto the table: "Except for that one copper coin, all the rest are fakes."

"oh?"

Upon hearing what I said, the middle-aged man's expression immediately changed: "How do you know?"

"Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, changed the name of the Liu Han dynasty and established himself. The traditional character for Liu contains the character for gold. To avoid this taboo, characters related to the gold radical, such as money and zhu, could not be used. In ancient times, the word quan (泉) was interchangeable with money. Since currency circulates like spring water, the character quan was used to replace money. This is the origin of the name 'huoquan' (货泉).

Although the Daquan Fifty coin was only minted for 13 years, it was the longest-circulating and most produced coin during Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty. While seemingly simple in design, it has many variations and rich connotations, with new varieties constantly emerging in recent years, especially those with decorative patterns, auspicious sayings, and animal designs on the reverse, which have been discovered in great numbers.

Wang Mang's coins were numerous and exquisitely crafted, featuring elegant seal script with a vertical needle design. In terms of craftsmanship, they represented the pinnacle of ancient Chinese coin-making technology. Wang Mang's coins were issued during the Xin Dynasty and were commonly known as "Mang coins." The most common types were Huoquan, Huobu, and Buquan, all of which fall under the category of Mang coins.

Against this backdrop, Sun Wu, which established its capital in Nanjing, sought to revitalize its economy by minting a series of Wu Daquan coins based on Wang Mang's Daquan Wushi. However, the Wu Daquan coins did not play a role in revitalizing the economy; instead, they exacerbated the confusion surrounding their face value. Compared to Wang Mang's coins, the Wu Daquan coins were even more chaotic.

In the fifth year of Wu Jiahe, the Daquan Wubai was minted. This coin was 1.3 inches in diameter and weighed about 12 zhu. However, the face value stated that one coin was equal to 500 Wuzhu coins. After that, the coins were minted lighter and lighter. After the first year of Wu Chiwu, Daquan Dangqian, Daquan Erqian, and Daquan Wuqian were successively minted. However, the weight of each coin did not increase much, but the face value doubled one after another, which shows the severity of inflation at that time.

Among them, the Daquan Wuqian coin, minted in the first year of the Chiwu era, had a diameter of 3.6 cm and a weight of 14.5 grams. After being recast to a lighter weight, its diameter was 2.5 cm and its weight was approximately 3.5 grams. The Daquan Wuqian coins you are counterfeiting are those from before the lighter recasting.

The middle-aged man who had smashed the teacup earlier said indignantly, "We didn't come here for you to educate us on history! Since you say those eight large coins are fake, you should naturally provide evidence!"

Seeing the middle-aged man's anxiety, I became even more certain that my guess was correct, and said with a smile, "In ancient times, three processes were successively used for coin casting: flat mold casting, stack casting, and sand casting with master coins. When Wang Mang usurped the throne and established the Xin Dynasty, flat mold casting was the main method of coin casting, and it continued until before the Sui Dynasty. Flat mold casting is divided into three types: clay mold, stone mold, and bronze mold. Simply put, it involves joining two flat molds together and pouring in molten copper, which then forms the shape in the central groove."

By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the stack casting method had become popular. This casting method was similar to that of flat mold casting, except that the mold was replaced with a fired ceramic mold, making it more durable. This casting method was more mature and efficient, so this Daquan Wuqian coin was made using the stack casting method.

Because ancient copper smelting techniques were not advanced, the molten copper contained a large amount of tin. Tin is lighter than copper of the same volume, so these seemingly identical copper coins actually weigh differently. When you counterfeit them, it's very difficult to perfectly replicate the proportions. The reason these eight fakes sank together is because they were produced in the same batch, using the exact same proportions of molten copper.

The middle-aged man who had set up the tea ceremony listened to my answer without saying a word and silently put the copper coin away.

"Excellent! Duan is indeed very meticulous!"

Su Jialiang clapped his hands and looked at Uncle Gen across from him with a smile, only after the other party admitted defeat: "Uncle Gen, we've already broken the first round. Don't you think I should say something?"

Uncle Gen said expressionlessly, "Please."

Su Jialiang lit a cigarette and calmly said, "The territory that we have already swallowed is now under the Su family's name. You must cede it and never touch it again!"