Coin Shunzhi tongbao

A round copper alloy coin with a square hole in the centre, called fangkong qian 方孔錢. These appeared in various denominations, mostly as tongbao 通寶 (“ordinary currency”) coins, which were worth one monetary unit, and yuanbao 元寶 (“original currency”) and zhongbao 重寶 (“heavy currency”), which had a higher face value. Such coins were in circulation as standard money, in many varieties and denominations, from the time of Emperor Gaozu 高祖 (reigned 618–626), first emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618–907), until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). The inscription on the coin usually consists of two characters, reading from top to bottom, indicating the name of the imperial reign or the single reign period (nianhao 年號) in which the coin was minted. The other two characters are read from right to left. On the left-hand side of the coin, we always find the character bao 寶 (wealth, preciousness), which in combination with the character on the right means “currency” or “money in circulation”. This is most often the character tong 通 (circulate, be uniform, general, or universal), but often it is also yuan 元 (original) or zhong 重 (weight), which usually denote coins with a larger face value. Thus, the entire inscription literally means “money in circulation during the time of this or that emperor” or “during this or that period of the reign of a single emperor”. Coins from the time of the last, Manchu Qing dynasty have, in addition to the inscription in four Chinese characters on the obverse, an inscription on the reverse, usually indicating the location of the mint. It was originally written in Chinese, then in Chinese and Manchu, and finally only in Manchu.

The coin in the photo is worn, but the Chinese characters Shunzhi tongbao 順治通寶 are easily read on the obverse, indicating that it was minted during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi 順治 (reigned 1644–1661), the first emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, who ruled over the entire Chinese territory as Emperor of China. In this early period of the Qing Dynasty, coins did not yet bear Manchu script on the reverse, but the reverse was either blank or the inscription was in Chinese characters. The reverse of the coin has the Chinese character Dong 東 on the right-hand side, which stands for the Shandong 山東 province where the coin was minted. On the left, from top to bottom, is the Chinese script yili 一厘, meaning “one li” or one thousandth of a liang 兩 (a traditional Chinese weight measure that was about 40 grams) of silver. Coins with this mark were minted between 1653 and 1657 to better control the quality of the coinage and prevent counterfeiting during this period of building new dynastic institutions. (MG)