Item number: A973

Year: AD 1644-1646

Material: Brass

Size: 24.5 x 24.1 x 0.8 mm

Weight: 2.65 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a “Yongli Tongbao” brass coin, minted by the Yongli court, the last and longest-lasting of the five Southern Ming regimes established in the south following the Manchu invasion and the founding of the Qing Empire. The Yongli court was led by Zhu Youlang, also known as the Gui King, who resisted the Qing forces until the very end.

The coin is in the typical square-hole design. On the obverse side, the four Chinese characters “Yongli Tongbao”(永曆通寶) are inscribed in a sequence from top to bottom, right to left, using the regular script style. Notably, the top stroke of the character “永” has been simplified into a vertical stroke.

The reverse side features a Chinese character “Gong”(工) at the top, indicating that this coin was minted under the supervision of the Ministry of Works (工部) of the Southern Ming court, which was responsible for overseeing resource management and construction projects.

The “Yongli Tongbao” coin varieties reflect the fragmented political landscape during the late Ming and early Qing periods, where different regions minted coins under the Yongli Emperor’s name despite his lack of real control. These coins are generally categorised by the regions where they were produced: Fujian-Zhejiang, Yunnan-Guizhou, Guangxi-Hunan , and Sichuan. 

The Yongli Emperor, originally the Prince of Gui in Guangxi, was proclaimed the Southern Ming Emperor in AD 1646 by loyalist ministers, continuing resistance against the Qing dynasty. In AD 1659, after the Qing forces captured Kunming, the Yongli Emperor fled to Burma. However, under pressure from the Qing military, the Burmese King Pindale captured and handed him over to the Qing in AD 1661. The Yongli Emperor was eventually strangled with a bowstring by Wu Sangui in Kunming. Despite the news of the emperor’s martyrdom, the Zheng family in Taiwan continued to use the Yongli reign title until their defeat and surrender in AD 1674.

物件編號: A973

年代: 公元 1644-1646 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 24.5 x 24.1 x 0.8 mm

重量: 2.65 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是面對滿洲人入關建立清帝國後，明廷殘存的勢力先後在南方建立的五個南明政權中，以桂王朱由榔為首支撐最久和最後一個的永曆朝廷，所鑄造的「永曆通寶」銅錢。

錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢。錢幣正面按照上、下、右、左的順序，依序以楷書書法鐫刻漢字「永曆通寶」四字，其中「永」字頂端的點筆劃被省略為一直豎。

錢幣背面上方有一漢字「工」，代表這枚錢幣是由南明朝廷負責管理資源和工程建設的「工部」監督鑄造。

永曆通寶的版別十分複雜，因為在明末清初的混亂時局下，永曆皇帝缺乏對於政局的實際掌握，多由鄭成功這般實質控制地方大權的人自行統治和鑄幣。以永曆之名鑄造的通寶按照地理劃分，大致分為：閩浙、雲貴、桂湘和四川這幾個大類別。

永曆皇帝原為明朝分封於廣西的桂王，公元1646年被大臣推舉為南明皇帝持續跟清廷對抗。公元1659年，清軍成功攻陷昆明，永曆皇帝被迫出走緬甸。公元1661年，在清廷施加的軍事壓力下，緬甸國王莽白設計綁架永曆皇帝交付給清廷，最終永曆皇帝在雲南昆明為吳三桂以弓弦絞殺。面對皇帝殉國的消息，遠在臺灣的鄭氏仍持續沿用永曆年號，直到公元1674年兵敗投降為止。