Vault Protector Coin made by Board of Works Mint

Vault Protector coins () were a type of

Chinese numismatic charm Yansheng Coins (), commonly known as Chinese numismatic charms, refer to a collection of special decorative coins that are mainly used for rituals such as fortune telling, Chinese superstitions, and Feng shui. They originated during the Wester ...

coins created by Chinese mints. These coins were significantly larger, heavier and thicker than regular cash coins and were well-made as they were designed to occupy a special place within the treasury of the mint. The treasury had a spirit hall for offerings to the gods of the Chinese pantheon, and Vault Protector coins would be hung with red silk and tassels for the Chinese God of Wealth. These coins were believed to have charm-like magical powers that would protect the vault while bringing wealth and fortune to the treasury."Coins in China's History", published in 1936 by Arthur B. Coole (邱文明). Vault protector coins were produced for over a thousand years in China, with roots in the

Southern Tang dynasty Southern Tang () was a state in Southern China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which proclaimed itself to be the successor of the former Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province. ...

(

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

) and production continued into the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

History

Early history

There is some speculation by the Chinese numismatist Guan Hanheng (關漢亨) that an enormous silver

Ban Liang The Ban Liang (Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ''bàn liǎng'') was the first unified currency of the Chinese empire, first minted as early as 378 BCE and introduced by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang as China's first unified currency around 210 ...

cash coin manufactured by the Kingdom of Qin in the year 336 BC had been cast to serve as some form of

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

protector. In his book ''Ban Liang Huobi Tushou'' (半兩貨幣圖說), Guan argues that large silver Ban Liang was "cast in 336 BC to commemorate the firing of the furnaces that began production of the first Ban Liang cash coins of the Qin state" and that the large silver Ban Liang cash coin did not see any circulation as it was a commemorative issue.

Southern Tang

The earliest known vault protector coin known to exist is the ''Da-Tang Zhenku'' (大唐鎮庫) which translates as "the Vault Protector of the Tang Dynasty" and was cast during the Baoda period of Li Jing. The diameter of these Datang Zhenku vault protector coins is 6 cm, and they have a thickness of 0.6 cm, the diameter of the square center hole is 1.24 cm and the Datang Zhenku coin weighs 93.7 grams. Only one of these vault protector coins is known to exist and it was owned by a coin-collector from the city of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

named Fang Yaoyu (方藥雨) during the beginning of the twentieth century and it was later owned by another private coin-collector called Chen Rentao (陳仁濤) before it ended up in the collection of the

National Museum of China The National Museum of China () flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The museum's mission is to educate about the arts and history of China. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic ...

during the 1950s.

Qing dynasty

Shunzhi era

Following the expansion of Qing rule into the Central Plain in 1644, the empire established new mints in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Almost immediately did the Qing start imitating

Ming dynasty coinage Chinese coinage in the Ming dynasty saw the production of many types of coins. During the Ming dynasty of China, the national economy was developed and its techniques of producing coinage were advanced. One early period example is the Bronze ...

, including vault protector coins. Two central government mints were opened in Beijing and they began to cast the Shunzhi Tongbao (順治通寶) cash coins closely modeled after the cash coins of the preceding Ming dynasty. A special Shunzhi Tongbao vault protector coin was cast that was 6 centimeters in diameter and contained the Manchu reverse inscription "Boo Yuwan" (). Another variant of this vault protector coin exists which has the

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanj ...

"工" on the right side next to its square centre hole on its reverse side.

Xianfeng era

The Leizhou City Museum (雷州市博物館) in the city of

Leizhou Leizhou () is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Zhanjiang. The city was formerly known as Haikang County ( postal: Hoihong); it was upgraded into a city in 1994. G ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

and the Palace Museum in Beijing both own a Qing dynasty era Xianfeng Tongbao (咸豐通寶) vault protector coin. The reverse inscription of this vault protector coin reads Da-Qing Zhenku (大清鎮庫, which could be translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as "Vault Protector of the Qing dynasty"). These coins have a diameter of 14 centimeters. The square centre hole is 2.5 centimeters in diameter, the vault protector coin weighs 1.05 kilograms. Only 5 of these vault protector coins were ever produced and during the beginning of the Republic of China, a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

had stolen all of them, the aforementioned two cash coins remained in China while the eunuch sold the other 3 Xianfeng Tongbao vault protector coins for what was purported to be "a large amount of money" to a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

man. A description of this vault protector coin also appears in the book "Zhongguo Guqian Daji" (中國古錢大集) written by Hua Guangpu (華光普), where it is valued as being worth 1.200.000 yuan. The Leizhou City Museum came in possession of this coin during the 1950s, prior to this it was privately owned. During the Xianfeng era another type of vault protector coins was cast by the

Ministry of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

with the obverse inscription Baoyuan Juzao (寶源局造, which could be translated as "made by the Ministry of Public Works"). The reverse inscription of this coin reads Zhenku (鎮庫, "vault protector coin"). This vault protector coin is very large in its size and has a diameter of 11.52 centimeters, its square centre hole is 1.8 centimeters in diameter, and it has a weight of 837.3 grams. In 1936 Arthur B. Coole (邱文明) claimed that only four of five of these vault protector coins were ever produced by the Ministry of Public Works Mint in Beijing. A Xianfeng Yuanbao (咸豐元寶) vault protector coin was cast at the Ministry of Public Works mint with a reverse inscription that reads "鎮庫 " (Zhen Ku Boo Ciowan). This vault protector coin a diameter of 117.43 millimeters and a weight of 902.1 grams. Chinese numismatist Ma Dingxiang (馬定祥), in his book "The coins of Xianfeng" (咸豐泉匯), claims that the style of this vault protector coin is consistent to the styles of other Xianfeng era cash coinages. Furthermore, Ma Dingxiang claims that there exists only a single other specimen of a "companion vault protector coin" that was produced simultaneously by the Ministry of Revenue Mint in Beijing. In 2009 a Baoyuan Juzao vault protector coin was sold at an auction in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. This same coin was sold at auction in the year 2013 for $408,279 (

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

2,530,000). At the time of this auction, this sale had broken the record for the highest amount of money that was ever paid for a Qing dynasty era coin.

Qixiang / Tongzhi era

After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, his son was crowned the Qixiang Emperor, however, after only one month his reign title was changed to the

Tongzhi Emperor The Tongzhi Emperor (27 April 1856 – 12 January 1875), born Zaichun of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, from 1861 to 1875, which effectively laste ...

. Because if this only a very small number of cash coins using the Qixiang inscription was used, to commemorate the new emperor a Qixiang Zhongbao (祺祥重寶) vault protector coin were made, this coin does not have any characteristics that indicate which mint had produced it. The reverse of the Qixiang Zhongbao vault protector coin contains the inscription Da-Qing Zhenku (大清鎮庫). This coin had a diameter of 10.1 centimeters and a thickness of 0.47 centimeters. A Qixiang Zhongbao vault protector coin was sold at an auction in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in the year 2013 for $745,755 (

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

5,750,000).

Guangxu era

Under the

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...

a bronze vault protector coin with the obverse inscription Guangxu Tongbao (光緒通寶) and the reverse side contains the Manchu inscription "Boo Yuwan" (). This vault protector coin has a diameter of 6.2 centimeters and a thickness of 1 centimeter. A Guangxu Tongbao vault protector coin was sold at an auction in the year 2010 for $51,485 (

319,200).

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The Coin of Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace

During the later part of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

, the government of the

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Q ...

cast a number of vault protector coins with the inscription Taiping Tianguo (太平天囯), these cash coins were notably 7.6 centimeters in diameter and were also very thick. The reverse sides of these vault protector coins contained the characters ''Shengbao'' (聖寶, "holy treasure").TaipingRebellion.com 太平天囯 Tai Ping Tian Guo
Coins of the Taiping
Retrieved: 13 January 2020. In his book "Coins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" (太平天國錢幣), Chinese numismatist Ma Dingxiang notes that the vault protector coins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were manufactured for the mints of

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

, and Suzhou. There are only 5 or 6 of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-made vault protector coins known to exist and these coins all tend to display some very slight differences between them. A specimen that was previously in the collection of Ma Dingxiang and sold at auction held in the year 2011 for an amount of $111,286 (

690,000).

Modern reproductions

Due to the rarity of vault protector coins, there isn't a lack of reproductions and fakes appearing on the coin collecting market. In the modern era vault protector coins are sought after both as collectible items as well as financial investments. Furthermore, some commemorative modern coins made from precious metals are sometimes also based on pre-modern vault protector coins. In the year 1982 a gold coin based on a Xianfeng era vault protector coin was created, in 1990 another a gold coin version of a different Xianfeng era vault protector coins was created, and in 1998 a gold coin inspired by the Da-Tang Zhenku from the

Southern Tang Southern Tang () was a state in Southern China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which proclaimed itself to be the successor of the former Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province. ...

was produced.

Modern influence

The design of the ''Da-Tang Zhenku'' vault protector coin was re-used for a silver

commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...

issued by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1998. This commemorative coin was shaped like the original vault protector coin on one side and depicted its denomination, the name of the issuing country, and ornamental designs on the other side.

Gallery

Image:Vault Protector Coin of the Qing Dynasty.png, A Da-Qing Zhenku (大清鎮庫) vault protector coin of the

. Image:Vault Protector Coin of Qianlong Tongbao.jpg, A vault protector coin of the Qianlong Tongbao (乾隆通寶) of the Qing dynasty. Image:Jiaqing Wannian.jpg, A Jiaqing Wannian (嘉慶萬年) vault protector coin of the Qing dynasty. Image:British Museum - Room 68 (22432964882).jpg, A vault protector coin of the Qing dynasty on display at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Image:Vault Protector Coin of Taiping Kingdom.jpg, A vault protector coin of the

. Image:The Coin of Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.JPG, A vault protector coin of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on display at the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Vietnam

During the Nguyễn dynasty period in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

large coins were kept in the vaults of all provincial treasures and especially in the imperial vault in the capital city of

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

. These large coins often had auspicious inscriptions on them or poetry that promotes Confucian virtues.

References

{{Chinese cash coin Chinese numismatic charms