Item number: A31

Year: ND, Mid-19th century

Material: Gold

Weight: 7.85 g

Provenance: Stack’s Bowers Galleries 2023

This coin is a fantasy gold coin. Its obverse side is milled with seal script reading ‘Ming Ming Chungbao(heavy Bao).’ During the Ming Ming era, most other coins were of the ‘Ming Ming Tong Bao(usual Bao)’ type. The ‘Tong Bao(usual Bao)’ coins usually held lesser denominations, while the ‘Zhong Bao(heavy Bao),’ which denotes heavier value, generally represented intermediate denominations. Consequently, the milling on this currency, inscribing ‘Ming Ming Chungbao (Heavy Bao),’ may have aimed to emphasize its value by engraving it on the coin.

Positioned in the center of this coin is a blossoming flower, bearing resemblance to the chrysanthemum depicted on Japanese coins. The reverse side showcases an auspicious dragon soaring among auspicious clouds.

“Chungbao” was first used as a name for coins in the Tang Dynasty of China as “Qianyuan Chungbao”, which comes from the allusion of “Money is the important treasure of the country.”

物件編號: A31

年代: 公元 十九世紀中

材質: 黃金

重量: 7.85 g

來源: SBP錢幣拍賣 2023

本幣為二錢明命通寶的臆造金幣，正面有篆書對讀「明命重寶」。明命時代其他錢幣多為明命通寶。通寶多為小面值錢幣，重寶則較為貴重，多為中等面值，因此本幣所有的明命重寶鑄幣者可能為了突顯其價值，而於金章上刻明命重寶。金章正中間呈盛開的花朵，與日本錢幣上的菊花相近。背面為騰雲祥龍圖。本幣可見於The Irving Goodman Collection of Chinese Coinage頁31，另外亦收於 Eduard Kann的Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Coins之中。

「重寶」首次作為錢幣的命名是出現在中國唐朝的「乾元重寶」，出自「錢，國之重寶」典故。