Note to buyers

Dear buyers – if you’d like to purchase multiple items in one order, please let us know via message and we will combine postage and refund you any surplus shipping fee (if any, depending on the total weight of the package).

International buyers – please note: Import duties, taxes, and charges aren't included in the item price or postage cost. Please check with your country's customs office to determine whether these additional costs will be applicable prior to buying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chinese Ancient Coin Ming Dynasty Hong Wu Tong Bao AD1368 洪武通宝 Hartill  20.58

In the early Ming Dynasty, in the first year of Hongwu (1368 AD), Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, also known as the Hongwu Emperor, ordered the Bureau of Treasures in the capital (Nanjing) and various provincial mints to mint the "Hongwu Tong Bao" coins. The coinage was managed by the Bureau of Treasures under the Ministry of Works. To avoid using the character "Yuan" from the previous Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang named the coins "Tong Bao" (general currency) instead of "Yuan Bao." This practice wasn't just to avoid his own name, but also extended to all the coins minted thereafter. The coinage of the "Hongwu Tong Bao" followed the pattern of the "Da Zhong Tong Bao" coins minted by Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. They were classified into five denominations: Xiaoping coins, which weighed one wén each; Zhe'er coins, weighing two wén each; Dang coins, weighing three wén each; Dang coins, weighing five wén each; and Dang coins, weighing ten wén each.

 

Simultaneously, the minting of "Da Zhong Tong Bao" coins continued. In most provinces throughout the country, except for a few, there were minting furnaces. The annual production of coins was about 190,000 guan, with the most being minted in the fifth year of Hongwu. The "Regulations for Coinage" during the Hongwu era specified that newly refined copper should be used for coinage. However, due to a scarcity of copper at the time, recycled coins and old copper were commonly used for minting. This resulted in variations in the quality and purity of the "Hongwu Tong Bao" coins.

 

In the eighth year of Hongwu, paper currency known as "Da Ming Bao Chao" was issued. It was decreed that one guan of "Da Ming Bao Chao" was equivalent to one thousand wén of copper coins or the value of one tael of silver. Four guan of the paper currency equaled one tael of gold. The policy of using both copper coins and paper currency was implemented, but the circulation of gold and silver was prohibited, and they could only be exchanged with the government. In order to promote the circulation of paper currency, the central and local mints stopped minting coins that year. By the second year, the production of copper coins was entirely halted.

 
In the tenth year of Hongwu, the Bureau of Treasures and provincial mints resumed the minting of small-denomination coins. This continued until the twentieth year of Hongwu when the minting was once again suspended. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, the coinage system was revised, and a new set of five-denomination coins was minted according to the regulations established in the first year of Hongwu. Later, the weight of the copper coins was changed to one wén and two fēn per coin. The other four denominations increased in weight incrementally based on the weight of the Xiaoping coins. In July of the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, only the Bureau of Treasures in the capital was permitted to mint coins, and other provinces once again stopped minting. By August, due to obstacles in the circulation of paper currency, the use of copper coins was firmly prohibited in favor of implementing the paper currency system. This situation persisted until the end of Emperor Ming Xuanzong's Xuande era, spanning a total of forty-one years

明代初期，明太祖朱元璋于洪武元年（公元1368年），命京城（南京）工部宝源局及各省宝泉局铸行“洪武通宝”，由工部主管铸钱，下设宝源局。朱元璋为避讳元朝的元字，把所铸之钱钱文一律叫通宝而不叫元宝，而不只是为避讳他自己的名字，以后所铸之钱也都没有元宝钱文。洪武通宝钱制沿续元末朱元璋所铸“大中通宝”的形制，分为五等，规定小平钱，每文重一钱，折二钱重二钱，当三钱重三钱，当五钱重五钱，当十钱重一两。同时继铸大中通宝钱。全国各省除少数省外，都设有铸钱炉，年铸钱约十九万贯，其中洪武五年时铸钱最多。洪武《铸钱则例》规定，铸钱应用生铜。但当时铜材稀缺，所以就普遍用废钱和旧铜铸造，因铜质复杂，纯度不一，而造成“洪武通宝”成色不一的情况。
洪武八年，发行“大明宝钞”纸币，规定大明宝钞每贯合铜钱一千文或值银一两，宝钞四贯合黄金一两。并且实行铜钱与宝钞并用的政策，但禁止金银流通，只能向政府兑换。明朝为推行纸币的流通，当年就停止了中央及各地方钱局的铸钱。到第二年全部停铸铜钱。明朝洪武十年，又恢复宝源局与各省钱局铸小钱至洪武二十年后又停铸。洪武二十六年，改变钱制，重新铸五等钱，按洪武元年铸行规定，后又改铜钱每文重一钱两分。其它四等钱，依照小平钱之重递增。洪武二十六年七月只准京师宝源局铸钱，其它各省再次停铸。到八月，因宝钞流通受阻，为坚决实行纸币制度再次禁止使用铜钱。直到明宣宗宣德末年，历时长达四十一年。