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4 Cash - Xianfeng Zhongbao, Ili
| Issuer | Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855-1861 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Cash |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Round cast copper coin bearing a central square perforation characteristic of Chinese cash coinage. Four bold Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) are arranged in cruciform fashion around the square hole, reading top-to-bottom and right-to-left: 咸豐重寶 (Xianfeng Zhongbao), denoting the reign title of the Xianfeng Emperor and the denomination class 'heavy currency.' The characters are rendered in a robust, raised relief typical of Ili mint production, set within a plain, slightly irregular field reflecting the hand-finishing common to cast provincial issues. A raised rim encircles the design on both the outer edge and the inner square perforation. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 咸 寶 重 豐 (Translation: Xian Feng Zhong Bao Xianfeng (Emperor) / Heavy currency) |
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| Additional information |
The Ili mint, located in the Xinjiang frontier region, operated under conditions markedly different from the metropolitan board mints in Beijing. Coinage here served a military-administrative economy — supplying garrisons and managing a borderland economy where bullion flows were irregular and central oversight was distant. The Xianfeng reign saw catastrophic monetary disorder across the empire, with the court issuing increasingly debased and inflated denominations to finance suppression of the Taiping and other concurrent rebellions. Ili's output during this period was modest and geographically constrained in circulation, which partly explains survival in better-than-average condition.