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100 Cash - Xianfeng Yuanbao, Boo-de
| Issuer | Board of Revenue Mint, Beijing |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854-1855 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Four Chinese ideograms in regular script (kaishu) are arranged in cruciform fashion around the central square hole, read in the traditional sequence of top, bottom, right, left. The characters 咸豐元寶 (Xianfeng Yuanbao) are boldly cast in raised relief against a flat, unadorned field. The strokes are well-defined and characteristic of official Board of Revenue coinage, with no additional decorative elements on this face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents two vertical Manchu script words flanking the central square hole, reading ᠪᠣᠣ ᡩᡝ (Boo-de), denoting the Board of Revenue mint designation. Above the hole appears the single Chinese character 當 (dang, meaning 'equivalent to') and below the hole the character 百 (bai, meaning 'one hundred'), together indicating the denomination of 100 cash. All legends are cast in bold raised relief against a plain flat field, consistent with large-denomination Xianfeng-era emergency coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The Xianfeng reign produced some of the most chaotic coinage in Qing dynasty history. The Taiping Rebellion had severed southern revenue streams by the early 1850s, forcing Beijing's Board of Revenue Mint to strike increasingly large-denomination cash in base metals as the fiscal situation deteriorated. The 100-cash pieces were deeply unpopular — their face value bore no rational relationship to metal content, and they were widely refused or discounted in trade almost immediately after issue.
Boo-de mintmarks identify the Board of Revenue facility specifically, distinguishing this output from the parallel Board of Works production. The 1854–1855 window was the peak of this inflationary experiment before denominations were quietly suppressed.