10 Cash - Yongli Tongbao, with Yi Fen, large size

The Yongli Emperor — the last credible claimant of the Ming dynasty — spent his entire reign in flight, governing from a succession of southern provinces and briefly into Burma as Qing forces closed in. His coinage reflects this: minted across multiple locations with no central authority over production, the Tongbao series shows extraordinary variation in fabric, module, and calligraphic style depending on where and when a given piece was cast. The Yi Fen reverse denomination mark on this large ten-cash piece indicates an attempt to impose a rational tariff system on issues that were, in practice, deeply inconsistent.

Yongli was strangled by bowstring in Yunnan in 1662, three years after the nominal end of this issue's production window.