Item number: A1249

Year: AD 1853

Material: Brass

Size: 38.09 x 37.44 mm

Weight: 21.34 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2016

This is a coin from the Qing Dynasty, during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. The coin is circular in shape with a square hole in the centre. The obverse features the two characters “天國” (Tianguo) written vertically from top to bottom, while the reverse bears the characters “聖寶” (Shengbao). Based on the arrangement of the characters, this type of coin is inferred to have been minted during the early period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is commonly found near Nanjing and may have also been minted by early military leaders.

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom coins were made from various materials, primarily copper, with some made of lead, iron, gold, and silver. The coins have two main characteristics: first, none of them bear a denomination, with the inscriptions mostly in Song-style script and some in regular script; second, the coins are all named “聖寶” (Shengbao), with “聖” (Holy) referring to Jesus Christ. The inscriptions on the coins are diverse: some have “天國” on the obverse and “通寶” on the reverse; others have “天國” on the obverse and “聖寶” on the reverse; some have “太平天國” on the obverse and “聖寶” on the reverse; and others have “天國聖寶” on the obverse and “太平” on the reverse. Additionally, the inscriptions can be written horizontally or vertically. Overall, due to the lack of a unified currency system, the types of coins are quite varied. Additionally, since the coins do not have any denomination marked on them, their use as currency was often inconvenient. However, this also means that some of these coins are rare and valuable to collectors.

Although the coins themselves do not have denominations marked on them, they are classified into different grades, such as Xiao Ping (1 cash), Zhe Er (2 cash), Zhe San (3 cash), Zhe Wu (5 cash), Dang Shi (10 cash), and Dang Wu Shi (50 cash), among a total of 56 grades. Additionally, due to the large variety of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom coin types, coins that appear to be different may actually belong to the same grade.

物件編號: A1249

年代: 公元 1853 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 38.09 x 37.44 mm

重量: 21.34 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2016

這是一枚清朝太平天國時期的錢幣，幣面為圓形，有方形穿孔，其正面由上至下直書有「天國」二字，背面則有「聖寶」二字，此種錢幣由其文字排列方式推斷是太平天國早期所鑄，多發現於南京附近，亦可能為初期諸將所做。

太平天國制錢材料多種，主要為銅錢，少量鉛鐵錢、金銀幣。錢幣特點有二，其一，所有鑄幣，均不記值，錢文字體多為仿宋字，次為楷書；其二，貨幣皆以「聖寶」為名，聖字取意於救世主耶穌基督。不僅如此，其錢文也十分多樣：錢幣正面文字有面為「天國」、背「通寶」的；有面為「天國」、背「聖寶」的；有面為「太平天國」、背「聖寶」的；有面為「天國聖寶」、背「太平」的，此外，正背面的文字亦有橫寫、豎寫之分。整體而言因其幣制未能統一，其品類相當繁雜，加上錢幣均無記值，作為貨幣使用多有不便，但也因此當中有部份稀有珍品頗具收藏價值。

雖然錢幣本身並無記值，然而其有品級之分別，例如有分小平、折二、折三、折五、當十、當五十六種品級，另外因為太平天國的錢幣類型龐雜，因而即使看似不同樣子的錢幣也可能皆屬同一種品級。