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1 Cash - Wanli Tongbao, with dot
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1576-1620 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Brass |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation surrounded by four Chinese characters in kaishu (regular script), arranged in the traditional reading order: top, bottom, right, left — forming the reign title legend 萬曆通寶 (Wanli Tongbao). The boldly cast characters are well-defined against a flat inner field, enclosed within a raised inner rim bordering the central hole and a raised outer rim defining the coin's edge. The overall design is typical of Ming dynasty cast cash coinage, with clean, angular strokes characteristic of the Wanli period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.142: Large dot above - ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.143: Small dot above; Tong with one dot - ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.143: Small dot above; Tong with two dots - ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.144: Dot to the upper right - ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.145: Dot below - ND (1576-1620) - Hartill#20.146: Dot to the left - |
| Additional information |
The Wanli reign (1572–1620) was among the most financially chaotic of the late Ming period. Emperor Shenzong's chronic withdrawal from court business — he refused audiences for over two decades — left the Board of Revenue largely ungoverned, and mint output became erratic across provincial facilities. The dot variety catalogued here under Hartill 20.142 distinguishes production from a specific furnace or supervisory workshop, a detail that mattered to Ming administrators tracking output accountability even as the central government functioned in name only.
By the early 1600s, silver had so thoroughly displaced brass cash in everyday commerce that these coins circulated primarily among the rural poor.