In March 1974 farmers digging a well near Xi’an struck clay figures, and so the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, came to light. This 2002 five-yuan coin is devoted to that find: the reverse shows a terracotta warrior with the inscriptions SHIJIE WENHUA YICHAN («World Cultural Heritage») and QIN SHIHUANG LING JI BINGMAYONG KENG («Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and the terracotta warrior pits»).

The figures were buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC to guard him in the afterlife. The three main pits hold more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses; the height of each figure reflects its rank, and no two faces are alike. The mausoleum was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.

The obverse carries the national emblem of the People’s Republic. The coin was released in 2002 alongside a five-yuan coin featuring the Great Wall, opening a run of commemoratives devoted to China’s famous sites.

Grade UNC: the coin never circulated, shows no wear and retains its mint lustre. A warrior of Qin Shi Huang’s army fits as naturally into a UNESCO collection as into one devoted to the history of ancient China.

You can find companions for this coin, by series or by year of issue, in the VPcoins catalogue.