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50 Cash - Xianfeng Tongbao, Boo-fu
| Issuer | Board of Revenue Mint, Fuzhou |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853-1855 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Shape | Round with a square hole |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cast in the traditional Chinese cash coin format, the obverse presents four large Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) arranged in a cruciform reading pattern around the central square hole: top to bottom and right to left, reading 咸豐通寶 (Xianfeng Tongbao). The characters are boldly rendered in high relief against a flat, unadorned field. The legend translates as 'Xianfeng [Emperor's reign] Universal Currency,' following the canonical format of Qing dynasty imperial cash coinage. A plain raised rim encircles the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND (1853-1855) - Hartill#22.778: Tong with two dots - ND (1853-1855) - Hartill#22.782: Tong with one dot; open Fu - ND (1853-1855) - Hartill#22.783: Tong with one dot; closed Fu - |
| Additional information |
The Xianfeng reign's large-denomination cash coins were an emergency measure, authorized in 1853 to finance the catastrophically expensive suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. The Board of Revenue Mint at Fuzhou — "Boo-fu" in romanized mint nomenclature — was one of several provincial facilities pressed into producing these oversized pieces, though output quality and alloy consistency varied wildly between mints and even between production runs at the same facility.
At 50 cash face value, this denomination was among the more moderate inflations of the period; the Xianfeng series eventually extended to absurd multiples of 500 and 1000 cash, which the public largely refused to accept at face. Hartill 22.778 places this within the documented Fuzhou output, a mint whose 50-cash pieces are notably scarcer than those of Beijing.