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1 Cash - Tianqi Tongbao, 1 Qian, type 2
| Issuer | Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Revenue (Ming Dynasty Imperial Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1621-1627 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Brass |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain reverse featuring a central square hole with raised inner and outer rims. To the left of the square hole, two Chinese characters in regular script read 一錢 (Yi Qian), indicating the coin's weight denomination of one qian. The right side of the reverse field is largely blank. The casting surface shows green patination and minor irregularities consistent with hand-finished Ming dynasty production. This character arrangement — Yi (一) to the right of the hole and Qian (錢) to the left when read conventionally — corresponds to the Hartill type 20.207 classification. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Tianqi Emperor came to the throne at fifteen and showed almost no interest in governance, famously preferring carpentry — he was, by contemporary accounts, a genuinely skilled woodworker. Real authority during his reign passed to the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, whose faction controlled court appointments, tax collection, and, critically, mint operations. The dual-ministry striking arrangement reflected a broader administrative fragmentation rather than any efficiency logic.
Type 2 pieces are distinguished from Type 1 by calligraphic variations in the reverse inscription, a distinction documented in Hartill's classification that matters for attribution but was invisible to the peasants actually spending them.