Item number: A524

Year: AD 1850-1861

Material: Copper

Size: 23.8 x 23.5 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 2.75 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a “Xianfeng Tongbao” coin minted during the Xianfeng era, made from red copper, giving it an overall orange-red appearance. The surface is marked with numerous irregular depressions, likely due to less refined minting techniques.

The obverse of the coin is inscribed with the four Chinese characters “Xianfeng Tongbao” in a clockwise order: top, bottom, right, and left. The reverse side bears Manchu script indicating the minting authority. While the left side, inscribed with “ᠪᠣᠣ” (Bao), remains relatively clear, the right side is too distorted to accurately identify the specific mint location.

The Xianfeng period was one of the most chaotic times for Qing dynasty coinage, primarily due to the rapid spread of the Taiping Rebellion, which created an urgent need for military funding to suppress the uprising. In response, Emperor Xianfeng accelerated the production of currency by issuing coins with large denominations and reopening or establishing new mints that had been long inactive. As a result, the number of mints during the Xianfeng era reached 28, producing coins with denominations ranging from smaller values of four cash to as high as one thousand cash. This rapid expansion, however, also led to severe inflation within the empire.

物件編號: A524

年代: 公元 1850-1861 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 23.8 x 23.5 x 0.7 mm

重量: 2.75 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚咸豐年間，以紅銅為材料鑄造的「咸豐通寶」，通體為橘紅色。或許是鑄造工藝不精的原因，使得錢幣表面遍布大小不一的凹陷。

錢幣正面按上、下、右、左順序，依序鐫刻漢字「咸豐通寶」四字。錢幣背面則是以滿文標示鑄造單位，左側「ᠪᠣᠣ」(寶)字稱得上清楚，右半部則過於扭曲，難以辨別詳實的鑄造地點。

咸豐年間為清朝錢幣最為混亂的時期，主要原因是太平天國之亂的迅速蔓延，使得朝廷亟需軍費以平定叛亂。咸豐為加快籌錢的速度，一面鑄造大面額的錢幣，一面增設或恢復停工已久的鑄錢局，使得咸豐時期的鑄錢局達到28間，面額從較小的四文到一千文不等，卻也導致國內面臨嚴重的通貨膨脹。