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1 Cash - Xianfeng Tongbao, Boo-chang
| Issuer | Board of Revenue Mint, Chang (Changsha) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854-1856 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Cash (621-1912) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu), arranged in the traditional cruciform reading order: top to bottom and right to left, surrounding a central square hole. The legend reads 咸豐通寶 (Xianfeng Tongbao), identifying the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor and denoting universal currency. The characters are boldly cast in raised relief against a flat, unadorned field, with no inner or outer rim decoration beyond the plain raised border. The composition is typical of mid-Qing dynasty cash coinage, with the square perforation serving both a functional and symbolic role. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (1854-1856) - Hartill#22.925: Regular size - ND (1854-1856) - Hartill#22.926: Smaller size; medal alignment (around 17 mm) - |
| Additional information |
The Boo-chang mint operated under the Board of Revenue in Changsha, Hunan province, during one of the most catastrophic periods in Qing fiscal history. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had seized Nanjing in 1853 and was actively disrupting provincial commerce and supply lines throughout central China. Brass substituted for the standard copper-zinc alloy as metal supplies grew erratic — a substitution visible across multiple provincial mints during this window.
Hunan was a front-line province during these years, not a quiet administrative backwater.