Item number: A523

Year: AD 1850-1861

Material: Brass

Size: 17.2 x 17.0 x 0.4 mm

Weight: 0.8 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

According to the collection records of D. L. F. Sealy, this is a “Xianfeng Tongbao” coin minted during the Xianfeng era, weighing only 0.8 g, which suggests that it is a privately minted version rather than an official issue. Additionally, the disproportionately large square hole in the centre serves as another distinguishing feature that indicates the coin was not produced by an official mint. Both sides of the coin have undergone severe wear, rendering the Chinese characters on the obverse and the Manchu script on the reverse illegible.

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: A523

年代: 公元 1850-1861 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 17.2 x 17.0 x 0.4 mm

重量: 0.8 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

根據大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利的收藏紀錄，這是一枚咸豐年間鑄造的「咸豐通寶」，重量僅有0.8克，故能判斷這枚錢幣為民間私鑄的版本。除此之外，錢幣中間的方孔比例過於龐大，也是得以辨識這枚錢幣非由官方製造的關鍵。這枚錢幣的正反兩面經歷嚴重磨蝕，不論是正面的漢字或背面的滿文都無法辨識。

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。