Li Zicheng proclaimed the Shun dynasty in Xi'an in January 1644 and captured Beijing in April, prompting the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide on Coal Hill. His occupation of the capital lasted precisely 40 days before Wu Sangui's alliance with the Manchu Qing forces drove him out. The Yongchang coinage was struck across that entire compressed arc of dynastic ambition — Xi'an, Beijing, and a handful of other mints — making attribution of individual pieces genuinely difficult.
Li was dead by 1645, and Shun coinage ceased with him. Fewer than two years of production across a collapsing military campaign.
Li Zicheng proclaimed the Shun dynasty in Xi'an in January 1644 and captured Beijing in April, prompting the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide on Coal Hill. His occupation of the capital lasted precisely 40 days before Wu Sangui's alliance with the Manchu Qing forces drove him out. The Yongchang coinage was struck across that entire compressed arc of dynastic ambition — Xi'an, Beijing, and a handful of other mints — making attribution of individual pieces genuinely difficult.
Li was dead by 1645, and Shun coinage ceased with him. Fewer than two years of production across a collapsing military campaign.