Item number: A987

Year: AD 1661-1722

Material: Brass

Size: 24.7 x 24.8 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 1.85 g

Manufactured by: Bao Yuan Bureau

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a circulating coin, the “Kangxi Tongbao,” minted during the reign of the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi (AD 1661–AD 1722), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Work’s Bao Yuan Bureau in the capital.

The coin is of a typical square-holed shape, made of brass, and features several irregular holes of varying sizes on its surface. On the obverse side, the four Chinese characters “Kangxi Tongbao” are inscribed in sequence from top, bottom, right, and left.

On the reverse side, the left and right sides are engraved with the Manchu script “ᠪᠣᠣ ᠶᡠᠸᠠᠨ” (Bao Yuan), indicating the minting unit. This format, with “ᠪᠣᠣ” (Bao) on the left side, first appeared during the Shunzhi period for coins minted by central authorities. It wasn’t until the Yongzheng period that this design became widely adopted by regional minting bureaus.

Weighing only 1.75 g, its inscriptions appear quite crude, suggesting that it was likely privately cast by civilians, rather than being an official mint product. The rough execution of the characters supports the conclusion that it was an imitation, potentially created to meet local demands during a time when access to official currency was limited.

After the Manchus established the Qing Empire following their conquest of the Ming Dynasty, they maintained the central-level institutions responsible for coinage, namely the “Bao Quan Bureau” and “Bao Yuan Bureau.” The former, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, handled fiscal taxation, while the latter, overseen by the Ministry of Works, was responsible for construction projects.

Upon Emperor Kangxi’s accession to the throne in the 18th year of the Shunzhi era (AD 1661), the Ministry of Revenue was tasked with designing the “Kangxi Tongbao” and distributing instructions to local mints across the realm. Despite periodic suspensions of minting activities at the local level during Kangxi’s reign due to policy shifts, the central-level Bao Quan Bureau remained unaffected.

物件編號: A987

年代: 公元 1661-1722 年

材料: 黃銅

尺寸: 24.7 x 24.8 x 0.5 mm

重量: 1.85 g

製造地: 寶源局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚清朝第三任皇帝康熙年間(公元1661-1722年)，京師工部管轄的「寶源局」鑄造之流通貨幣「康熙通寶」。

錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢，材質為黃銅，表面有一些大小不一的不規則孔洞。錢幣正面按上、下、右、左順序，依序鐫刻漢字「康熙通寶」四字。

背面左右兩側以滿文鐫刻鑄造單位「ᠪᠣᠣ ᠶᡠᠸᠠᠨ」(寶源)字樣。這種左側冠以滿文「ᠪᠣᠣ」(寶)形制，最早見於順治時期的中央鑄幣單位，到了雍正時期方才普及至各地方層級的鑄幣局。

這枚錢幣的重量僅有1.85克，且銘文看起來十分粗糙，故能推斷這枚錢幣為民間私下仿鑄。

滿州人入關建立清帝國後，沿襲明帝國於中央層級負責鑄造貨幣的「寶泉局」和「寶源局」兩個部門，前者是負責財政稅收的戶部，後者則是主責建設的工部管轄。康熙皇帝於順治18年(公元1661年)登基後，戶部負責設計康熙通寶和派發給各地的鑄錢局。即便在康熙統治時期，地方層級的鑄錢局多次受到政策影響停鑄，但中央層級的寶泉局並未受到影響。