Item number: A534

Year: AD 1862-1875

Material: Brass

Size: 25.7 x 25.4 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 4.5 g

Manufactured by: Bao Quan Bureau

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a “Tongzhi Chungbao” coin with a denomination of ten cashes, minted during the reign of the tenth Qing emperor, Tongzhi. The coin is made of brass and follows the typical square-holed design. On the obverse, the four Chinese characters “Tongzhi Chungbao” are inscribed in a sequence from top, bottom, right, to left. On the reverse, the upper and lower sides bear the denomination “當十” (10-Cash) in Chinese, while the left and right sides are inscribed in Manchu script with the characters “ᠪᠣᠣ ᠴᡳᠣᠸᠠᠨ” (Bao Quan), indicating the minting authority.

The Manchu script “ᠴᡳᠣᠸᠠᠨ” (Quan) on the reverse of this coin features a noticeably bigger and more delicate font compared to another coin in the museum’s collection.

During the reign of Tongzhi’s father, Emperor Xianfeng, the Qing Empire faced a severe outflow of silver. In AD 1851, the first year of Xianfeng’s reign, the Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan exacerbated this crisis. In response, the Qing government began minting large-denomination coins with inflated nominal values to cope with the economic turmoil, which ultimately caused further fiscal disarray.

After Tongzhi ascended the throne in AD 1862, the minting of large-denomination coins, including the Tongzhi Chungbao series, continued. It was only after the Qing military recaptured the Taiping capital, Nanjing, in AD 1864, that the economy began to stabilise, leading to the production of smaller-denomination Tongzhi Tongbao coins.

物件編號: A534

年代: 公元 1862-1875 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 25.7 x 25.4 x 1.2 mm

重量: 4.5 g

製造地: 寶泉局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是清朝第十位皇帝同治年間，鑄造之面額當十文的「同治重寶」，材質為黃銅。錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢，正面按上、下、右、左順序，依序鐫刻漢字「同治重寶」四字。錢幣背面的上下兩側以漢字鐫刻面額「當十」，左右兩側以滿文鐫刻鑄造單位「ᠪᠣᠣ ᠴᡳᠣᠸᠠᠨ」（寶泉）二字。

這枚錢幣背面滿文「ᠴᡳᠣᠸᠠᠨ」(泉)跟本館收藏的另一枚錢幣相比，其字型較大。

同治的父親咸豐在位期間，清帝國面臨白銀嚴重流失問題。咸豐元年(公元1851年)，洪秀全正式以太平天國為號的叛亂更加劇危機，使得清廷於咸豐年間開始鑄造虛值面額的大錢，以應付經濟危機卻造成財政的混亂。同治於公元1862年登基後，先鑄造大面額的同治重寶系列。直到同治3年(公元1864年)，清軍成功攻克太平天國首都南京後，國內物價逐漸回穩方才開始鑄造小面額的同治通寶。