Hongwu Tongbao was minted by the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry in the capital and the Baoquan Bureau of each province in 1368 by Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. The Ministry of Industry was in charge of coining, and the Baoyuan Bureau was established under it. In order to avoid tabooing the word "Yuan" in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang called all the coins he minted "Tongbao" instead of "Yuanbao". This was not just to avoid tabooing his own name. In the future, all coins minted did not have Yuanbao coins. arts.
Hongwu Tongbao is divided into five levels. It is stipulated that each small coin weighs one coin, two coins weighs two coins, three coins weighs three coins, five coins weighs five coins, and ten coins weighs one. two. At the same time, Dazhong Tongbao coins were cast.
Yongle Tongbao was cast during the period of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. It has exquisite casting technology, very neat and exquisite calligraphy. It is one of the most exquisite coins in the history of Chinese currency. In the early Ming Dynasty, these finely cast and neat Yongle Tongbao coins played a very important role in foreign trade and became the common coins in international trade six hundred years ago.
The copper color of Yongle Tongbao is purple-red. The four-character "Yongle Tongbao" in regular script on the Qian side reads directly from top to bottom, right to left. The writing and strokes are elegant and have the charm of Song Qian. They are exquisitely made and uniform. Almost all the coins that have survived are small flat coins with no writing on their backs. The diameter of the coins is 2.5 centimeters and they weigh about 4 grams.
Yongle Tongbao Xiaoping coins are relatively common and the price is not high.
Among the Yongle Tongbao coins, there is also a large bronze coin that is folded into three parts, with three coins on the back. The diameter of the coin reaches 3.4 cm, with clear characters and simple shape. Its research and collection value is very high.
Xuande Tongbao was cast during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Zhanji. The money system follows the Yongle rules. They are all small flat coins. They have no text on the back and can be read directly from real books. The production is slightly inferior to Yongle Tongbao and the calligraphy is average. There are fewer versions.
From the time of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty to the time of Zhu Youtang, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, no coins were minted for nearly 70 years. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, the trustworthiness of treasure banknotes was shaken, and people were unwilling to use them, and even bartered them. 10 copper coins of Baosha could not be exchanged for 3 cents. The Ming Dynasty court believed that if it did not issue copper coins, it would be unable to restore the credibility of Baosha, and many profits would be made by private traders, so it issued an edict to reopen the furnace in Beijing and 13 provinces across the country. Coin money. It was at this time that Hongzhi Tongbao was cast.
Hongzhi Tongbao is all Xiaoping money. There is no text on the back, and the real book can be read directly. There are many versions of this money, and they are produced in different places, with slight differences. The weight of Hongzhi Tongbao increased from one cent to one cent and two cents.
The calligraphy of Hongzhi money is relatively average, and the casting quantity is not large, which does not reach the required amount, because Xiaozong died when the money was changed and new money was cast, and Zhu Houzhao, Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, succeeded to the throne and changed Yuan Zhengde. This money will stop minting.
Jiajing Tongbao was cast during the reign of Zhu Houcong, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. It is a small flat coin with a bare back. It can be read directly from the real book, but it contains an official meaning. There are more of this coin in existence. In terms of casting, the imperial court first issued an edict ordering the Baoyuan Bureau of the two capitals to start casting this coin, and ordered the Ministry of Industry to start casting the coin in the other four provinces in accordance with the coin casting standards of Yongle and Xuande. The casting amount was slightly higher than that of Yongle and Xuande.
Jiajing Tongbao initially determined that each penny weighed 1.2 qian, and a thousand coins weighed 7.8 jin. By 1584, each coin weighed 1.25 cents, and one thousand coins weighed 8 catties. In addition, Jiajing Tongbao coins began to be cast in brass. At the same time, in order to prevent private casting, the coin casting process was also improved, and coins with fire lacquer, lathe edges, and gold backs were cast.
Fire paint is secondary smelting. Turning means filing the edges with a turning machine, and gold backing refers to brass smelted by four fires, commonly known as "four-fire brass".
Most of the Jiajing Tongbao coins were Xiaoping coins. Only in 1564, the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry was ordered to imitate the five equations of Hongwu coins and cast Xiaoping coins. On the right side, "two coins, three coins, five coins and one tael" are cast. When one or two coins are put on, the word "ten" is cast.
This set of money is a mark of weight. Each coin is only 30,000 yuan, and it is not circulated. It is only used to enrich the internal treasury. Because it was not circulated, it was rarely handed down from generation to generation. The money paid by Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was more exquisite than that of previous generations.
Longqing Tongbao was cast during the reign of Emperor Muzong Zhu Zai of the Ming Dynasty. This money is all Xiaoping money, bare back without writing, and can be read directly from the real book. Longqing Tongbao money system weighs one cent and three cents per coin, with a gold back and lacquer. During the Longqing period, the amount of money minted was less than that during the Jiajing period. Only 20,000 guan were minted in the two capitals that year, which was only half of the amount minted in the two capitals during the Jiajing period.
At this stage in the early Ming Dynasty, due to the vigorous pursuit of the policy of treasure banknotes, copper coins were strictly controlled. Mining and banning were stopped repeatedly. Even if the ban was lifted, there were restrictions, or they were collected into the internal treasury and used as inventory. .
So there are two results. One is that private casting is rampant among the people. However, due to the lack of copper materials, the people use ancient coins, but ancient coins are also limited, so they cast ancient coins privately for circulation. This is because the penalty for privately casting coins in this dynasty was very heavy; secondly, it promoted the widespread use of silver. In the Ming Dynasty, silver was cast into a saddle shape, which was called "Yuanbao", and it also had other shapes, called "silver ingots".
The increase in coinage occurred during the period of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun. This was a turning point in coinage in the Ming Dynasty and a turning point in the Ming Dynasty. There are many versions of Wanli Tongbao cast at this time. Wanli Xiaoping coins are genuine books with direct reading. Most of them have no text on the back. A few have text or star and moon patterns on the back, but they are rare.
The Wanli Tongbao money has two coins, and it is also a real book with direct reading, narrow width, double points, and the diameter of the money is 2.8 cm. Wanli Tongbao coins are cast by the two capitals and all provinces across the country. The two capitals cast gold backs and fire lacquer, while other places are only allowed to cast lathe edges.
Beginning in 1592, expenditures increased, so the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Works and other agencies opened new money furnaces to mint money. Due to the significant increase in casting volume, the shortage of copper materials, and the rise in copper prices, many temporary official furnaces were unprofitable and closed down soon after opening.
The workers had no way to make a living, so they cast it privately. At that time, there were many names for private money, such as crooked neck, pointed foot, fat head, etc., which were widely circulated. They still existed in Chongzhen and some are still existing.
Taichang Tongbao was cast during the reign of Zhu Changluo, Emperor Guangzong of the Ming Dynasty. It is a Xiaoping coin, which can be read directly from a real book. The copper color is light red. There are also brass coins. There are not many editions. There are moon coins, star coins, and The diameter of the money is 2.9 centimeters, which is as big as a large Kuanguo coin broken into two coins. There are also small coins with a diameter of 2.3 cm to 2.4 cm.
Zhu Youxuan, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, only cast Taichang Tongbao coins for one year, and the Tianqi Tongbao coins were cast in the second year. The Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs was also established, which was called "Qian Fatang". From then on, the Ministry of Household Affairs was in charge of casting money.
When Tianqi Tongbao was first minted, it was Xiaoping coins, and later it was minted as ten coins. The weight of the money was originally 1.3 qian, and the weight of the thousand coins was 8.8 jins. However, due to excessive official casting, the small coins only weighed 0.7 qian, and the thousand coins weighed only 4.8 jins, containing less than 30% copper.
Apocalypse Xiaoping coins are divided into two categories: those with no text on the back and those with text on the back. The text on the back is more complicated than that of Wanli coins, and there are many types of stars and moon patterns on the back; those with text on the back record weight, events, and bureaus. , remember the place.
The word "Fengzhi" is used to memorize things, which means that the eunuchs and ministers at that time performed things according to orders and made money. Tianqi Tongbao Xiaoping Qian not only has many inscriptions, but also has many differences in other aspects such as the size of the text, the level of the text, the width and width of the outline, and the structure of the money's text, which is very complex and changeable.
Tianqi Tongbao can be divided into two categories: those with no writing on their backs and those with writings on their backs. If they are two coins, most of them have no writing on their backs and there are few surviving ones. Both types of money are relatively rare.
Chongzhen Tongbao was cast by Zhu Youjian, Sizong of the Ming Dynasty. In Qian Wenzhen's book, the word "Tong" in Tongbao can be divided into single dot and double dot. There are Xiaoping, Dang Er, Dang Wu and so on. Xiaoping coins are generally 2.45 cm in diameter and weigh 3 grams; two coins are generally 2.7 cm in diameter and weigh 3.7 grams; five coins are 3.3 cm in diameter and weigh 6.2 grams, and Nandu coins are lighter.
Chongzhen Tongbao coins are the first coin minting peak in the history of ancient Chinese currency. However, due to its complex editions and various categories, especially its complicated back text and meaning, some of them are still difficult to identify.
There is no regularity in the severity. The four characters "Chongzhen Tongbao" in Qianwen are written in regular script and read directly from top to bottom, right to left. There are stars and moon on the back of the money, and some have graphics of galloping horses, commonly known as "Horse Racing Chongzhen".
In short, the early Tongbao coins cast in the Ming Dynasty had narrow wheels and tall characters; in the later period, the outer wheels became wider and the characters on the coins were mainly in Song style.
Tongbao coins cast in the Ming Dynasty