Item number: A3343

Year: AD 1646-1662

Material: Brass

Size: 23.0 x 23.3 x 0.8 mm

Weight: 3.05 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a brass coin of Yongli Tongbao minted under the authority of the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming dynasty.

The coin follows the traditional Chinese numismatic form of a round shape with a square hole in the centre. The obverse inscription reads “Yongli Tongbao” in regular script (kaishu), arranged in the customary top–bottom, right–left sequence. The characters are relatively small in size. The character “永” is written in a variant resembling the form “𣱵”, with a structure similar to “two” (二) over “water” (水). In the character “曆”, the left component “厂” is followed below by two components resembling “grain” (禾). The character “通” shows distinctive features: the left radical “甬” begins with a “コ”-shaped stroke, known as the “square-headed 通” (方頭通); the radical “辶” is rendered with two dots and a single turning stroke, ending in a hooked horizontal press-stroke at the base. The character “寶” displays further idiosyncrasies: the upper “宀” radical contains an elongated vertical dot, while the “缶” radical is written in a simplified form resembling “尔”, forming a variant character “寳”. On the reverse of the coin, above the square hole, there is an additional inscription: the character “戶” (Hu). Its initial stroke is a horizontal line, known as the “reclining-dot Hu” (臥點戶). This character likely indicates the minting authority, suggesting that the coin was issued by the Ministry of Revenue (戶部), one of the Six Ministries of the imperial central government.

Yongli Tongbao coins exist in numerous variants, with wide discrepancies in quantity and style. Due to the chaotic political situation during the late Ming and early Qing periods, the Yongli Emperor exercised little effective control over the state. Regional military commanders and warlords governed independently and oversaw coinage production within their territories, resulting in strong regional characteristics. Based on stylistic features and archaeological provenance, Yongli Tongbao coins can be categorised into five main types: (1) Guangdong issues, often with reverse inscriptions such as 定 and 國; (2) Guangxi issues, bearing reverse characters including 工, 戶, 督, 留, 粵, 輔, and 明; (3) issues from Yongzhou in Hunan, with reverses such as 工, 戶, 御, 敕, 部, 督, and 道; (4) silver-equivalent coins from Yunnan and Guizhou, bearing denominations such as 五厘, 一分, and 工; and (5) Fujian and Taiwan issues with plain reverses, some of which were minted in Nagasaki by commission from Zheng Chenggong and his father. Coinage in Guangdong and Guangxi began earliest, followed by southern Hunan, Yunnan–Guizhou, and finally Fujian–Taiwan, where minting continued the longest until AD 1683, when Zheng Keshuang surrendered to the Qing. Early issues were mostly small-denomination coins, while later examples include debased silver equivalents and nominal “two-cash” coins, with a noticeable decline in weight and metal quality over time.

The Yongli Emperor, personal name Zhu Youlang, reigned from AD 1646 to 1662. A great-grandson of the Wanli Emperor, he was the final sovereign of the Southern Ming. In AD 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng captured Beijing, resulting in the collapse of the Ming central government. Surviving Ming loyalists established the Hongguang regime in Nanjing, continuing the dynasty in what is known as the Southern Ming. After the capture and execution of the Hongguang Emperor in AD 1645, various Ming princes—including the Princes of Lu, Tang, Rui, Jingjiang, and others—proclaimed regencies, ruling autonomously. The Prince of Tang later declared himself the Longwu Emperor, while the Prince of Gui, Zhu Youlang, was proclaimed emperor in Zhaoqing, adopting the reign title Yongli. Amid continued Qing advances, the Yongli regime was forced into successive retreats, ultimately confined to the Yunnan–Guizhou region. Its survival depended largely on military commanders such as Zheng Chenggong, Li Dingguo, and Sun Kewang. However, internal factionalism—particularly between Li and Sun—critically undermined the resistance. In AD 1658, the Qing court dispatched Wu Sangui to lead a campaign into Yunnan, prompting the Yongli Emperor to flee to Burma and seek asylum from the Toungoo dynasty. In AD 1662, under pressure from the Qing, the Burmese king surrendered him, and he was executed by strangulation in Kunming at the age of 39, marking the final end of the Ming dynasty.

物件編號: A3343

年代: 公元 1646-1662 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 23.0 x 23.3 x 0.8 mm

重量: 3.05 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是南明永曆帝所鑄行之「永曆通寶」銅錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「永曆通寶」楷書。四字由上至下，由右至左對讀。字體較小。「永」字結構寫似「二、水」，呈「𣱵」；「曆」字「厂」旁下為二「禾」；「通」字「甬」旁字首寫為「コ」，取形稱「方頭通」；「辶」旁點與二折筆寫為二點與單折筆，底捺折筆；「寶」字「宀」旁點劃寫為豎長點，「缶」旁寫為「尔」，呈「寳」。錢幕錢穿上方有錢文「戶」，首筆寫為一橫，稱「臥點戶」。「戶」字應為紀局，表為中央六部之一之戶部所鑄行。

永曆通寶的版別繁雜，存世量多寡不一。因為在明末清初的混亂時局下，永曆皇帝缺乏對於政局的實際掌握，多由實質控制地方的將領、軍閥自行統治和鑄幣，因此有強烈的地域性。永曆通寶依風格和出土區域劃分，大致為五類：一為廣東，多背「定、國」；二為廣西，有背「工、戶、督、留、粵、輔、明」者；三為湖南永州，有背「工、戶、御、敕、部、督、道」者；四為雲貴折銀錢，有背「五厘、一分、工」者；五為閩台，為光背者，有些由鄭成功父子委日本長崎所鑄。粵、桂鑄行最早，湘南、雲貴、閩臺在後，閩臺停鑄最晚，直到公元1683年鄭克塽降清。早期多為小平錢，後期多折銀錢、虛值折二錢，重量與銅質也不斷降低。

永曆帝，名朱由榔，公元1646至1662年在位，為明神宗朱翊鈞之曾孫，是南明最後一位皇帝。公元1644年，闖王李自成陷北京，明廷崩潰。餘部集於南京立弘光帝，續祚大明，史稱南明。公元1645年，弘光帝被俘殺。潞王、太子、益王、唐王、魯王、靖江王先後建立監國政權，各自為政。唐王後稱隆武帝，桂王朱由榔則在肇慶被擁立為帝，年號「永曆」，除抗清外，彼此更攻伐不斷。其統治期間，南明政權不斷西遷，勢力逐漸退縮至雲貴地區，主要依賴鄭成功、李定國、孫可望等抗清將領支撐。然而政權內部派系爭鬥激烈，尤其以李、孫二人之爭最為嚴重，嚴重削弱了抗清能力。公元1658年，清廷命吳三桂率軍入雲南，永曆帝逃入緬甸，向東吁王朝尋求庇護。公元1662年，清軍逼迫緬王交出永曆帝，遂被押解至昆明絞殺，時年39歲，明朝至此滅亡。