5 Cash Taiping Tianguo / Shengbao, vertical

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a millenarian Christian theocracy under Hong Xiuquan that controlled much of southeastern China from Nanjing, issued its own coinage as a direct assertion of dynastic legitimacy against the Qing. These cash pieces were struck during some of the most destructive years of the Taiping Rebellion — a civil conflict that ultimately killed an estimated 20 to 30 million people, making it among the deadliest wars in human history.

The vertical reverse reading distinguishes Hartill 23.7 from horizontally-read variants of the same type — a small but catalogued distinction that reflects the practical inconsistency of Taiping mint operations under near-constant military pressure.