Item number: A562-1

Year: AD 1864-1875

Material: Brass

Size: 17.7 x 17.7 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 1.35 g

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a coin with a chipped edge, identified according to the collection records of D. L. F. Sealy as a “Tongzhi Tongbao” minted during the reign of the tenth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi. However, both the Chinese characters on the obverse and the Manchu script on the reverse have become illegible due to wear.

Weighing only 1.35 g, it is likely a privately cast coin.

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.

物件編號: A562-1

年代: 公元 1864-1875 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 17.7 x 17.7 x 1.0 mm

重量: 1.35 g

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚帶有缺角，根據大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利的收藏紀錄，這一枚錢幣為清朝第十任皇帝同治年間鑄造的「同治通寶」。然而錢幣正面的漢字和背面的滿文皆早已無法辨別。這枚錢幣重量僅有1.35克，應為民間私下所鑄造。

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。