Item number: A3312

Year: AD 1796-1820

Material: Brass

Size: 24.6 x 24.4 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 3.85 g

Manufactured by: Bao Dong Bureau

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This coin was a circulating currency known as “Jiaqing Tongbao,” minted during the reign of the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing, spanning from AD 1796 to AD 1820. It was produced at the coin mint in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province.

The coin is made of brass and follows the typical Chinese square-holed cash coin design. On the obverse, the inscription “Jiaqing Tongbao” (嘉慶通寶) is engraved in regular script (kaishu), arranged sequentially in a clockwise order: top, bottom, right, and left. On the reverse, the right and left sides are inscribed in Manchu script with the characters “ᡩᠣᠩ” (Dong, meaning “East”) and “ᠪᠣᠣ” (Bao, meaning “Treasure”) respectively.

After Jiaqing ascended to the throne following his father Qianlong’s abdication, he faced a massive financial crisis left behind by his predecessor. To address this, Jiaqing allowed the continued use of silver by the populace while simultaneously working to improve the quality of minted coins. As a result, the quality of “Jiaqing Tongbao” coins was notably superior and more standardised compared to the coins minted during the later years of Qianlong’s reign, with the weight officially set at 1 Mace 2 Candareens.

However, Jiaqing’s financial reforms were disrupted by frequent uprisings led by secret societies such as the White Lotus and Tianli sects. These disturbances undermined his efforts, leading to widespread private minting and even official adulteration of coinage, which in turn caused rampant inflation. In response, Jiaqing issued an edict permitting provinces lacking copper resources to suspend coin production. If they were to continue minting coins, the weight had to be strictly maintained at 1 Mace 2 Candareens. Consequently, many provinces ceased production, leading to a reduction in the circulation of copper coins and a subsequent stabilisation of prices.

物件編號: A3312

年代: 公元 1796-1820 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 24.6 x 24.4 x 0.9 mm

重量: 3.85 g

製造地: 寶東局

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

此硬幣為清朝第六任皇帝嘉慶年間(公元1796-1820年)，於山東省會濟南府的鑄錢局鑄造之流通貨幣「嘉慶通寶」。

錢幣材質為黃銅，形制為中國典型的方孔錢。錢幣正面按照上、下、右、左的順序，以漢字楷書書法鐫刻「嘉慶通寶」四字。錢幣背面的右側和左側，分別鐫刻滿文「ᡩᠣᠩ」(東)和「ᠪᠣᠣ」(寶)。

嘉慶接受父親乾隆的禪讓登基為皇帝之後，面對父親留下的龐大財務危機，嘉慶一面聽任民眾使用白銀，另一方面整頓鑄幣的品質，使得嘉慶通寶的品質較乾隆末期的錢幣來得精美和規範，重量規定為一錢二分。然而嘉慶年間，國內頻繁出現白蓮教和天理教等祕密結社的叛亂，使得嘉慶的金融整頓努力只得半途而廢，各地又出現私鑄和官方偷工減料使得物價飛漲。這些因素迫使嘉慶上諭，缺乏銅礦的省份得以自行停鑄，若要繼續鑄幣則重量需要足一錢二分。因此各省紛紛停鑄，使得市面上的銅錢數量減少，方才使物價逐漸回穩。