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1 Cash - Hongwu Tongbao, Zhe
| Issuer | Ministry of Revenue, Ming Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1368-1393 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Reverse description | Central square hole bordered by a raised inner rim, with a single Chinese character in regular script (kaishu) cast in bold relief above the hole in the upper field: 浙 (Zhe), denoting the Zhejiang Provincial Mint as the issuing authority. The remaining three quadrants of the field are blank. A raised outer rim encircles the entire reverse, consistent with standard Ming dynasty cash production. |
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| Additional information |
The Hongwu Tongbao series was Ming Taizu's attempt to reassert copper cash as the backbone of everyday commerce after decades of Yuan dynasty paper currency dominance. It largely failed in that ambition — the Hongwu court repeatedly suspended and reinstated copper coinage between 1375 and 1393 as the government kept defaulting to its own paper notes, the Daming Baochao, which it could print without mining or minting costs. The "Zhe" reverse mark denotes production supervised by the Zhejiang regional mint, one of several provincial facilities established under the early Ming monetary reorganization.