Catalog
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| Issuer | Taiping Heavenly Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853-1855 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Cash (1853-1864) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central square hole framed by a raised inner border, with two large Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) reading vertically top to bottom: 天 (Tiān, Heaven) above the hole and 國 (Guó, Kingdom) below. The characters are boldly cast in high relief against a flat field. An outer rim encircles the design, consistent with traditional Chinese cash coin conventions. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a millenarian Christian movement that controlled much of southeastern China from 1851 to 1864, establishing a parallel administrative state — including its own coinage — in direct defiance of Qing imperial authority. These cash pieces were struck at Nanjing after the Taiping captured the city in March 1853 and declared it their Heavenly Capital, Tianjing. The rebellion ultimately killed an estimated 20 to 30 million people, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.
Hartill 23.5 is among the more frequently encountered Taiping issues, though survivors in problem-free condition are scarcer than raw numbers suggest.