Item number: A539-1

Year: AD 1864-1875

Material: Brass

Size: 19.8 x 19.7 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 1.6 g

Manufactured by: Bao Zhe Bureau

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a “Tongzhi Tongbao” coin minted during the reign of the tenth Qing Dynasty emperor, Tongzhi, made of brass. The coin follows the typical square-holed design. On the obverse, the four characters “Tongzhi Tongbao” are inscribed in a sequence from top, bottom, right, left in clear script. The reverse side features Manchu script on both sides, indicating the minting unit as “ᠪᠣᠣ ᠵᡝ” (Bao Zhe), signifying that this coin was minted in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

Compared to another coin in the museum’s collection, the Manchu character “ᠵᡝ” (Zhe) on this coin is noticeably thicker.

This coin weighs only 1.6 g, making it highly likely to be a privately cast imitation. Since the reign of Tongzhi’s father, Emperor Xianfeng, the Qing Dynasty faced numerous internal and external challenges, leading to a lack of stringent regulation in coin minting. This resulted in significant disorder within the currency system.

During the 13-year reign of Emperor Tongzhi, copper coinage production was relatively scarce, as silver had gradually become the primary medium of exchange in everyday transactions. This scarcity was further exacerbated by the ongoing internal strife caused by the Taiping Rebellion, which had not yet been quelled at the beginning of his reign.

It was only after the Qing army successfully recaptured the Taiping capital of Nanjing in the 3rd year of Tongzhi’s reign (AD 1864) that the minting of lower-denomination Tongzhi Tongbao coins commenced. Among these, the largest quantities were produced by the Bao Zhe Bureau in Zhejiang and the Bao Su Bureau in Jiangsu.

The Bao Zhe Bureau was initially established in the 6th year of the Shunzhi reign (AD 1649) under the administration of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. It was originally named the “Zhejiang Provincial Bureau” but was later renamed during the Yongzheng period when minting factories were uniformly designated with the character “Bao” in their names.

During the Qing Dynasty, currency was issued by various regional mints, and measures such as adding or closing mints and reducing the number of furnaces were used to control the circulation of currency. Due to insufficient copper production in Zhejiang, the operations of the Bao Zhe Bureau were intermittent.

物件編號: A539-1

年代: 公元 1864-1875 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 19.8 x 19.7 x 0.6 mm

重量: 1.6 g

製造地: 寶浙局

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「同治通寶」，材質為黃銅。錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢。錢幣正面按上、下、右、左順序，依序鐫刻漢字「同治通寶」四字，字體十分清晰。錢幣背面的左右兩側以滿文鐫刻鑄造單位「ᠪᠣᠣ ᠵᡝ」（寶浙）二字，代表這枚錢幣於浙江杭州所鑄造。這枚錢幣背面的滿文「ᠵᡝ」(浙)，跟本館收藏的另一枚錢幣相比，其字型較為粗壯。

這枚錢幣重量僅有1.6克，極有可能是民間私下仿鑄。清朝自同治的父親咸豐以後，面對內憂外患諸多挑戰，鑄幣缺乏嚴謹的規範，使得制度十分混亂。

同治在位期間僅有13年，由於彼時民間已逐漸採用白銀作為交易，故同治期間鑄造的銅錢數量較為稀少。尤其同治登基初年，清廷最大的內患太平天國尚未平定。故直到同治3年(公元1864年)，清軍功克太平天國首都南京後，方才開始鑄造小面額的同治通寶，以浙江「寶浙局」和江蘇「寶蘇局」數量為最。

「寶浙局」最早設立於順治6年(公元1649年)，由浙江省布政使司管理，最初命名為「浙江省局」，後於雍正時期，統一將鑄幣廠以「寶」字命名。清代貨幣由各地分散發行，並且以增局、撤局、減爐等方式，控制貨幣流通的數量。因浙江生產的銅料不足，導致寶浙局時開時停。