Chinese coinage in the Ming dynasty saw the production of many types of coins. During the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

of China, the national economy was developed and its techniques of producing coinage were advanced. One early period example is the Bronze 1

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...

Obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

: "

Hongwu Tongbao The ''Hongwu Tongbao'' ( Japanese language, Japanese: Kōbu Tsūhō) was the first Cash (Chinese coin), cash coin to bear the reign name of a reigning Ming dynasty Emperor bearing the reign title of the Hongwu Emperor. Hongwu Tongbao cash coin ...

" (洪武通寶). Reverse: blank. Average (18 specimens) 23.8 mm, 3.50 grams (the weight vary considerable and we have records of specimens from 2.2 to 4.1 grams).

Background

Bitllet xinès - Museu de Prehistòria de València

Zhu Yuanzhang, better known as the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts i ...

, proclaimed the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

in 1368. From the founding of the Ming until 1450, the emperors attempted to use

paper currency A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

, but this experienced the same

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

as its predecessors. For the most part, the country was starved for silver in the early part of the dynasty and much trade occurred via barter; in later years, silver mostly came in through

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

with either

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as part of the

Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico City and Madri ...

within the

Spanish colonial empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. The flow of chinese trade goods like

chinaware Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since Chinese Neolithic, pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the List of Palaeolithic sites in China, ...

were exported towards the rest of the

Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' imperial era between 15th and 19th centuries. To the e ...

and Europe through the

Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

between

in the

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet ( es, Flota de Indias, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the es, label=Spanish, plata meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to ...

s from

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

in Spain. Meanwhile, the return route also ensured constant supply of the Spanish silver dollar coins which were minted in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

(Mexico), and mined from

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...

in Bolivia or Peru. The

Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...

coins were often stamped with Chinese characters known as " chop marks" which indicated that the particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined to be genuine. The widespread circulation of the Spanish silver dollar not only affected the

but also became widespread across many countries in the Far east as a standard for trade and it remained embedded even till 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-speak ...

when banknotes started to be printed labeled as "Mexican Dollars" and later Western powers also later issued

trade dollar Trade dollars are silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with China and the Orient. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency ...

s, and colonial currencies such as the

Hong Kong dollar 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 ...

, to the same specifications. This silver flowed into the country and was also melted down and traded as bullion now known as

sycee A sycee (;.. from Cantonese , , ). or yuanbao () was a type of gold and silver ingot currency used in imperial China from its founding under the Qin dynasty until the fall of the Qing in the 20th century. Sycee were not made by a central ...

. However, the emperors also periodically minted coins. Alongside copper coins

cowrie shells Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The term ''porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana'') ...

continued to circulate during this period as well.

Coinage in the Ming era

After the Chinese became independent following the retreat of the Mongols back north and a bloody civil war culminating with the victory of

Zhu Yuanzhang The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts i ...

the Ming dynasty rose to power and under it a long period of stability and growth came. Until 1505 cash coins circulated alongside the

Da Ming Baochao The Da Ming Baochao () was a series of banknotes issued during the Ming dynasty in China. They were first issued in 1375 under the Hongwu Emperor. Although initially the Da Ming Baochao paper money was successful, the fact that it was a fiat curre ...

banknotes,

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

�
Chinese Ming Banknote
from the collection of 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 ...

. Retrieved: September 14, 2018. but as more silver currency entered the

Chinese market The China, People's Republic of China has an upper middle income Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five- ...

, currencies such as Spanish silver dollars started supplanting the cash coins. Privately minted cash coins of inferior quality became predominant in the south of China and 4 types of ''official cash coins'' were minted of varying quality of which one time with a weight of 1 qián was cast for payment to the imperial government, a second type of 0.9 qián for the salaries of officials, and the two types of lowest quality were mostly used by the commoners and circulated the most. Coins known as ''gold reverse'' coins were cast that were smelted four times as opposed to two and these were regarded as being more valuable, ironically because of this these ''gold reverse'' coins were being hoarded which prevented them from circulating causing even cheap and low quality counterfeit cash coins to circulate in larger numbers, after the government of the Ming dynasty started producing "milled rim" cash coins these were universally accepted so fast that at one point merchants accepted only these coins, but as the reputation of the ''gold reverse'' cash coins was so strong the "milled rim" coins were eventually viewed as worthless and deprecated. The amount of copper-alloy cash coins produced by the Ming dynasty was higher than under the preceding

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

(which had used paper notes, or ''zhibi'' (紙幣), extensively instead of metal coinages), but never reached the annual production outputs of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

period. The term " Zhiqian" (制錢) was used to discern full-valued cash coins produced by the imperial government from older ones from the

period, which were known as ''jiuqian'' (舊錢), and privately produced forgeries of non-standard weights and alloys that were referred to as ''siqian'' (私錢) or ''sizhuqian'' (私鑄錢). Other terms used during the Ming dynasty for various types of cash coins include ''yangqian'' (样錢, "Model coin"), also known as ''Beiqian'' (北錢, "Northern coin"), which referred to full weight (1 ''qián'') and fine quality cash coins had were delivered to Beijing as seigniorage revenue. ''Fengqian'' (俸錢, "Stipend coin") which referred to second rate cash coins that had a weight of 0.9 ''qián'' and were distributed through the salaries of government officials and emoluments. and ''Shangqian'' (賞錢, "Tip money") which is a term used to refer to cash coins that were small, thin, and very fragile (comparable to ''Sizhuqian'') that were used to pay the wages of employees of the imperial government (including the mint workers themselves) and was one of the most commonly circulating types of cash coins during the Ming dynasty among the general population. In the year 1393 there were a total of 325 furnaces in the mints all over the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

which together had an annual production performance of 189,000 strings of cash coins (with a string being 1000 cash coins). This amount was only 3% of the annual mint production under the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. The raw material copper that was necessary for the production of Ming dynasty cash coinage came from mines in the provinces of

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, Shaanxi, and

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

. In the province of Jiangxi alone, a total of 115 furnaces were operating. In the other Chinese provinces, where

copper ore Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical proces ...

s were not naturally found to be mined, the government of the Ming dynasty had ordered the local people to deliver their copper objects to the provincial government mints for melting down to produce more cash coins. Despite the government preferring

paper money A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

over copper-alloy cash coins, the Chinese market had a high

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

for them, this demand would stimulate an overproduction of forgeries that inundated the markets of Ming China, often these forged cash coins were cast in such miserable quality that a single real Zhiqian could buy 300 fake ones. Consequently, this caused inflation in many different places. Under the reign of the

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, w ...

the government of the Ming dynasty would alleviate the situation by producing a large amount of Zhiqian with the inscription Jiajing Tongbao (嘉靖通寶) in the year Jiajing 5 (1527). In the year Jiajing 11 (1553) the government of the Ming dynasty cast 10,000,000 additional Jiajing Tongbao cash coins as well as Zhiqian with 9 earlier reign era names, a total amount of 1,000,000 ''dìng'' (錠). Despite reigning only for one month, cash coins were produced that bear the reign title of the

Taichang Emperor The Taichang Emperor (; 28 August 1582 – 26 September 1620), personal name Zhu Changluo (), was the 15th Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and succeeded his father as emperor in 1620. However, his reign c ...

. These cash coins with the inscription Taichang Tongbao (泰昌通寶) were produced by his son, the

Tianqi Emperor The Tianqi Emperor (23 December 1605 – 30 September 1627), personal name Zhu Youjiao (), was the 16th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1620 to 1627. He was the eldest son of the Taichang Emperor and a elder brother of the Chongzhe ...

, in large quantities as a sign of

filial piety In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian '' Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the lat ...

. In the early 17th century an increase in the price of copper caused the government to reduce the amount of copper in the composition of the Zhiqian in favour of lead. Cash coins with the inscriptions Tianqi Tongbao (天啟通寶) and Chongzhen Tongbao (崇禎通寶) were of poorer quality than those producing during preceding periods, these cash coins tended to be both thin and bristle, due to the lowered amount of copper in their compositions. Chinese people at this point started to refrain from using copper-alloy cash coins and the markets preferred the usage of silver ingots instead. In the year 1621 Wang Xiangjian, the minister of war, had requested the government to cast Tianqi Tongbao cash coins n the denominations of 10 ''wén'', 100 ''wén'', and 1000 ''wén''. The government granted him permission to cast 10 ''wén'' cash coins leading to

debasement A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins. A coin is said to be debased if the quantity of gold, silver, copper or nick ...

, in 1622 their production had ceased. Initially these cash coins weighed 1 tael but was reduced to 0.5 tael, because of their reduced weight they were only accepted for 6 to 8 standard cash coins. In 1644 the Manchus captured Beijing from the

Shun dynasty The Shun dynasty (), officially the Great Shun (), was a short-lived Chinese dynasty that existed during the Ming–Qing transition. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leade ...

, and then marched south capturing the forces loyal to the Ming. One of the first monetary policies they enacted was accepting Ming dynasty cash coins at only half the value of Qing dynasty cash coins, because of this Ming era coinage was removed from circulation to be melted into Qing dynasty coinage, this is why in modern times even

coins are more common than those from the more recent Ming dynasty. A known variant of the Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins have only mint marks on the reverse side of the coin. An example of these Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins with mint marks the Chinese character "Zhong" (忠) which translates as either "loyal" or "honest" located above the reverse side of the square centre hole. During the

Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (; 6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian (), courtesy name Deyue (),Wang Yuan (王源)，''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德� ...

's reign, there were a total of 156 different mint furnaces producing cash coins in operation. It remains currently unclear if the Chinese character "Zhong" (忠) refers to a particular mint or if it doesn't. Cash coins with this character typically have a diameter of 24.8 millimeters and a weight of 3 grams.

List of Ming dynasty cash coins by inscription

Historically,

Chinese coins Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. The s ...

were round with a square hole in the center. On the obverse side, there are usually words indicating the emperor's reign name or era name. On the reverse side, there are words or graphic patterns often indicating denomination or a

mint mark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It should not be confused with a mintmaster mark which is the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate ...

. It is also possible that there is nothing on the reverse side. In the early period of the Ming dynasty, though, there were many different types of coin. Examples include: * "Da Zhong Tong Bao" () * "

Hong Wu Tong Bao The ''Hongwu Tongbao'' ( Japanese: Kōbu Tsūhō) was the first cash coin to bear the reign name of a reigning Ming dynasty Emperor bearing the reign title of the Hongwu Emperor. Hongwu Tongbao cash coins officially replaced the earlier Dazho ...

" () * "Hong Xi Tong Bao" () * " Yong Le Tong Bao" () * " Zheng De Tong Bao" () * "Hong Zhi Tong Bao" () * "Jia Jing Tong Bao" () * "Jia Jing An Bao" () * "Wan Li Nian Zao" () * "Wan Li Tong Bao" () * "Tian Qi Tong Bao" () * "Chong Zhen Tong Bao" () Most of the coinage names are derived from the

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of the reigns during which they were produced. For example,"Hong Wu Tong Bao" was produced during the Hongwu years (1368—1398). No coins with the inscription Zheng De Tong Bao (正德通寶) were ever produced for circulation by the

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Z ...

, however during the late Ming, and early Qing era many "

lucky charms Lucky Charms is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills since 1964. The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good lu ...

" with this inscription were produced, but these usually contain more decorative reverses featuring various auspicious depictions. Some Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins were produced with the denomination 2 ''wén'' and Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins produced 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 ...

mint had the mint mark "工" (Gong) inscribed to its reverse.

Guizhou local issues

During the Hongzhi period from 1488 until 1505 some Tribal Commissioners in the province of

Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...

issued their own cash coins, rather than being bases on reign titles the inscriptions were based on place names.

Unused reign titles

No cash coins are known to have been cast and put into general circulation with the following seven Ming dynasty period reign titles: Jianwen (建文), Hongxi (洪熙), Zhengtong (正统), Jingtai (景泰), Tianshun (天顺), Chenghua (成化), and Zhengde (正德).

Words on the coinage during the transitional period

During the transitional period between Ming and

Qing 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-speak ...

, various rebels and pretenders made their own money with different Chinese characters on it. Usually, there are four words on each side of a coin.

Hong Xi Tong Bao

"Hong Xi Tong Bao" (洪, 熙通寶) was produced in 1425, during

Hongxi Hongxi () (20 January 1425 – 7 February 1426) was the era name of the Hongxi Emperor The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), personal name Zhu Gaochi (朱高熾), was the fourth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1424 t ...

years, when Zhu Gaochi was the emperor of Ming. These coins are very rare. Until now, only two of them have ever turned up in public. Still, one has been lost and the other now is in the

Chinese History Museum The Chinese History Museum Kuching ( ms, Muzium Sejarah Cina Kuching) is a museum in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The museum is about the history of the Chinese people in Sarawak. History The museum building was constructed in 1912 and was used ...

. "Hong Xi Tong Bao" has been regarded as a piece of national historical relics in China.

Yong Le Tong Bao

"Yǒng-Lè Tōng-Bǎo" (永, 樂通寶) was produced by

Zhu Di The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyna ...

, one of the emperors in Ming. In the very beginning of Ming, paper money was widely used. After Zhu Di came to the throne, he carried out a series of reforms covering all fields, including politics, economy, culture, military and diplomacy. Out of the diplomatic and foreign trade needs, he produced "Yǒng-Lè Bǎo-Tōng" in 1408. Originally the "Yǒng-Lè Bǎo-Tōng" was not intended to circulate within China itself as cash coins had gradually been replaced by silver sycees and paper money, and the coin was intended for trade with countries like Japan, and the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

Chong Zhen Tong Bao

"Chong Zhen Tong Bao" (崇, 禎通寶) was the coin produced by the last Ming Emperor, the

. It was issued in various denominations. On the reverse side, there are numerous characters and dots, whose meaning are still not clear. At the time, there were mints run by the Board of Revenue in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

and Beijing.

Xing Chao Tong Bao

"Xing Chao Tong Bao" (興, 朝通寶) was produced by Sun Kewang, in 1649 (sixth year of

Shunzhi The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succee ...

), when he became the Dongping King.Li Chongzhi (李崇智)，《中國歷代年號考》，中華書局，2004年12月 . (in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

) At that time, Sun produced a large number of "Xing Chao Tong Bao" and it had its distinct features with a profound influence. The style of the Chinese characters on the coinage was plain. Most of the coinage was made of copper. Though the work was a little rough, but it was given full weight. This style was reflected in the later "Li Yong Bao Tong", "Zhao Wu Tong Bao" (昭, 武通寶) produced by Wu San-Gui and "Hong Hua Tong Bao" produced by Wu shifan.

Xi Wang Shang Gong and Zhang Xianzhong

Zhang Xianzhong Zhang Xianzhong (张献忠 or Chang Hsien-chung; 18 September 1606 – 2 January 1647), nickname Huanghu (literally 'Yellow Tiger'), was a Chinese peasant leader who led a peasant revolt from Yan'an wei, Shaanxi (today Yulin, Shaanxi province ...

was a famous leader of the peasant rebel army in the late Ming dynasty. In 1630, he joined the peasant rebel army. In 1643, he was entitled "Da Xing Wang". In 1644, he dominated

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

and became the king of

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

, named the reigning dynasty as "Da Xi" and his reign as "Da Shun". Zhang produced his money "Da Shun Tong Bao" (大, 順通寶) as the official currency. In order to honor those who made contribution to Da Xi dynasty, he produced another money called "Xi Wang Shang Gong" (西, 王賞功) as an award to them. There are four kinds of "Xi Wang Shang Gong", which are made of gold, gilding, silver and copper. At that time, the peasant rebel army won people's great admiration and support. "Da Shun Tong Bao" was often sewn onto clothing as a sort of celebration to the peasant rebel army. Since it was very difficult to get "Xi Wang Shang Gong", it was very rare and precious. It was nearly an impossible condition that ordinary people could get it. As a result, there are very few remaining today.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * She, Ben. Liaoning Provincial Museum - take you into the museum. * Zhong Guo Qian Bi Da Ci Dian Bian Zuan Wei Yuan H * Chinese Coin Dictionary: Yuan and Ming Dynasties (

Edition)

External links

An overview of Ming dynasty coinage.

{{Ming dynasty topics Coins of China Cash coins

Coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Neologism, coinage of a new word * '' COINage'', numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Protologism ''Protologism'' is a term coined in 2003 by the American literary ...

Chinese numismatics