Item number: A1073

Year: AD 1352

Material: Copper

Size: 24.6 x 24.7 x 0.3 mm

Weight: 3.3 g

Provenance:

1.Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a “Zhizheng Tongbao” copper coin, minted during the reign of Yuan Shundi in the 10th year of the Zhizheng era (AD 1350) under the Yuan dynasty. The coin features the typical square-holed design. The obverse side of the coin is inscribed with the four Chinese characters “至正通寶” (Zhizheng Tongbao) in a standard script, arranged in the order of top, bottom, right, and left.

The reverse side of the coin is inscribed at the top with the “Chen” (辰) Earthly Branch symbol in ‘Phags-pa script. The ‘Phags-pa script was designed by the Tibetan lama ‘Phags-pa, under the commission of Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan dynasty, based on Tibetan characters to serve as the Mongolian script. The “Zhizheng Tongbao” coin can be classified into three types based on the variations on the reverse side: “Mongolian Earthly Branch,” “Mongolian Denomination,” and “Mongolian-Han Denomination and Year.” This coin belongs to the first type.

The “Zhizheng Tongbao” coins feature a total of five Earthly Branch symbols: “Yin” (寅), “Mao” (卯), “Chen” (辰), “Si” (巳), and “Wu” (午). Each symbol corresponds to a specific year during which the coins were minted. Based on the “Chen” (辰) symbol on this particular coin, it can be precisely dated to the 12th year of Zhizheng, which corresponds to AD 1352.

The Yuan Shundi, Toghon Temür, was the last Mongol emperor to rule over the Central Plains of China. Starting from the 11th year of Zhizheng (AD 1351), various uprisings by the Han Chinese began to emerge across the region, leading to the gradual loss of Mongol control over China. In the 28th year of Zhizheng (AD 1368), General Xu Da, under the command of Zhu Yuanzhang, who had established the Ming dynasty in Nanjing, advanced towards the Yuan capital, Dadu (present-day Beijing). Toghon Temür fled with his family and court back to the Mongolian steppes, where his regime became known as the Northern Yuan. The Northern Yuan continued to resist the Ming dynasty until Toghon Temür’s death in the 30th year of Zhizheng (AD 1370).

物件編號: A1073

年代: 公元 1352 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 24.6 x 24.7 x 0.3 mm

重量: 3.3 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是元朝的元順帝於至正十年 (公元1350年)起，所鑄造的「至正通寶」銅錢。錢幣外觀為典型的方孔錢形制。錢幣正面依照上、下、右、左順序，以漢字楷書字體鐫刻「至正通寶」四字。

錢幣背面的上方以八思巴文鐫刻「辰」地支符號，八思巴文為元朝開國皇帝忽必烈指派國師，來自西藏的薩迦派喇嘛八思巴以吐蕃文字為基礎設計的蒙古文字。至正通寶按照背面的差異，分別有：「蒙文地支」、「蒙文紀值」和「蒙漢文紀值紀年」三種版型，該物件屬於第一種類型。

至正通寶總計有「寅、卯、辰、已、午」五種地支符號，分別對應錢幣發行的年間，由此能判斷這枚錢幣準確的鑄造年份為至正12年 (公元1352年)。

元順帝妥懽貼睦爾為最後一位統治中原的蒙古皇帝，至正11年 (公元1351年) 起，中原各地的漢人陸續發起反抗行動，使得蒙古人逐漸喪失對於中原的控制。至正28年 (公元1368年)，於南京創建明朝的朱元璋麾下將軍徐達向首都大都(今 北京)逼近，元順帝帶領親人和朝廷退回蒙古草原，其政權被稱作「北元」持續跟明朝對抗，最終於至正30年 (公元1370年) 駕崩。