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1 Cash - Zhaowu Tongbao, Regular script
| Issuer | Great Zhou dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1678 |
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| Value | 1 Cash |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cast bronze cash coin featuring four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) arranged in cruciform fashion around a central square hole, read in the traditional manner top-to-bottom and right-to-left. The four ideograms 昭武通寶 (Zhaowu Tongbao) are boldly rendered in raised relief, separated by the inner square rim surrounding the central perforation. The coin is framed by a raised outer rim, with the field between the characters and the rim left plain. The casting shows typical characteristics of late seventeenth-century Chinese provincial mint production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
Wu Sangui — the Ming general whose decision to open the Shanhai Pass to Qing forces in 1644 effectively ended the Ming dynasty — spent his final years attempting to undo exactly that. The Zhaowu reign title was proclaimed in 1678 as Wu established the Great Zhou state across southern China, minting coinage to legitimize a regime that would outlast him by less than a year. He died in August 1678, before his own era title had time to circulate meaningfully.
Production was concentrated in Yunnan and Hunan, where Wu held his strongest territorial grip. The brevity of the Zhaowu period keeps genuine examples scarce relative to demand.