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1 Cash - Tianqi Tongbao, Yuan
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1621-1627 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Cast brass cash coin featuring a central square hole flanked by four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu), arranged in cruciform reading order: top to bottom and right to left. The four-character reign title inscription 天啓通寶 (Tianqi Tongbao) occupies the four quadrants of the obverse field, with each character set within a raised rim bordering the central perforation and the outer circular border. The coin's flat field shows typical casting texture consistent with early seventeenth-century Ming dynasty production. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
Tianqi Tongbao cash were produced during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor, the second-to-last ruler of the Ming dynasty, who came to the throne at fifteen and showed almost no interest in governance — preferring woodworking to administration. Real power passed increasingly to the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, whose faction manipulated court finances and contributed to the fiscal disorder that plagued late Ming copper coinage. Alloy consistency across Tianqi issues is notably variable, a direct consequence of disrupted central oversight at the Board of Revenue mints during this period.