Item number: A1724

Year: AD 1645-1648

Material: Bronze

Size: 26.2 x 26.0 x 1.3 mm

Weight: 5.4 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2014

This is a Great Ming Tongbao coin minted during the late Ming to early Qing period by anti-Qing resistance forces in the Shaanxi-Gansu region, recognising the Southern Ming Prince of Lu as their legitimate ruler.

The coin follows the typical square-holed format and is covered with a layer of green patina. Numerous casting marks from the mould replication process are present, suggesting that this coin may not have been circulated or used in daily transactions. On the obverse, the four Chinese characters Great Ming Tongbao (大明通寶) are inscribed in regular script, following the sequence: top, bottom, right, and left. The term Daming refers to the official name of the Ming dynasty. The reverse features the character Shuai (帥) at the upper edge, symbolising a military commander, indicating that the coin was minted for the purpose of paying troops. Coins of this type, bearing the Shuai inscription on the reverse, have primarily been unearthed in the Shaanxi and Gansu regions.

In AD 1644, following the fall of Beijing to the rebel leader Li Zicheng and the suicide of the Chongzhen Emperor, remnants of the Ming imperial family established several short-lived regimes along the southeastern coast. The Prince of Lu was one such claimant to the Ming throne. However, facing relentless Qing military advances, he was often forced to seek refuge at sea. In AD 1651, he ultimately abdicated and took residence on Kinmen Island under the protection of the Zheng family.

During his reign, the Prince of Lu issued Great Ming Tongbao coins in the southeastern coastal regions under his control. However, he never set foot in the northwestern inland provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. The discovery of Great Ming Tongbao coins in these regions is likely connected to the anti-Qing resistance movements led by Milayin and Ding Guodong, who operated in Shaanxi and Gansu during the late Ming-Qing transition.

物件編號: A1724

年代: 公元 1645-1648 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 26.2 x 26.0 x 1.3 mm

重量: 5.4 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2014

這是一枚明末清初之際，陝西甘肅一帶的反清義軍以南明魯王為正朔鑄造之「大明通寶」。

錢幣形制為典型的方孔錢，表面包覆著一層綠色包漿，並且有許多翻模過程產生的刮痕，代表這枚錢幣可能沒有在現實生活中流通和使用過。錢幣正面按照上、下、右、左順序，依序以漢字楷書鐫刻「大明通寶」四字，「大明」乃是明朝的國號。錢幣背面上緣有一個象徵將領的「帥」字，代表鑄造錢幣的目的是為發放軍餉。這種背面帶有「帥」字的大明通寶，主要集中出土於陝西和甘肅一帶。

公元1644年，隨著闖王李自成攻破北京城迫使明朝崇禎皇帝自縊後，殘存的王室先後在東南沿海成立數個小朝廷，魯王為其中的一支力量，然而面對清軍進逼往往只能乘船避居於海上，最終於公元1651年自貶官位寓居於鄭氏家族控制的金門島上。魯王在位期間，於東南沿海的活動範圍以國號發行「大明通寶」，但卻未曾踏足遠在西北內陸的陝西和甘肅。陝甘兩地之所以會出土「大明通寶」應該跟米喇印和丁國棟兩人主持的反清義軍活動有關。