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10 Cash - Xianfeng Zhongbao, Boo-de, iron
| Issuer | Board of Revenue Mint, Beijing (Boo-de) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Cast iron coin featuring a central square hole flanked by four Chinese ideograms arranged in cruciform fashion, read top to bottom and right to left in the traditional manner. The inscription reads 咸豐重寶 (Xianfeng Zhongbao), identifying the reign period of the Xianfeng Emperor (r. 1850–1861) and denoting this as 'heavy currency.' The characters are rendered in regular script (kaishu) with bold, well-defined strokes filling the quadrants of the field. The flat, unadorned field and broad rim are characteristic of mid-nineteenth-century Qing dynasty cast coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
Cast in iron rather than the conventional brass alloy, this issue reflects the Qing dynasty's acute metal shortages during the Taiping Rebellion — a civil war that by 1855 had already killed millions and was draining imperial treasury reserves at a catastrophic rate. The Board of Revenue Mint resorted to iron as an emergency measure, producing coins that contemporaries distrusted and that circulated poorly as a result.
Iron cash from Boo-de are notably prone to oxidation, and uncorroded survivors are genuinely scarce.