Item number: A3653

Year: AD 1678

Material: Brass

Size: 23.0 x 23.2 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 3.25 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin is identified as a Zhaowu Tongbao small cash coin, valued at one wen, cast during the reign of Emperor Wu of Zhou (Wu Sangui) in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi era (AD 1678), when he adopted the reign title Zhaowu. It is made of brass and follows the general form of Ming-period coinage.

The coin is of the traditional Chinese type, circular with a square central hole. The obverse bears a broad raised outer rim and a square hole bordered by an inner rim. The inscription, written in regular script and read top to bottom, right to left, reads “昭武通寶” (Zhaowu Tongbao). The character “武” (Wu) is broad; the ge component has a level horizontal stroke, with the upper right dot placed beneath it. In “通” (Tong), the upper-right radical (マ) is left open, and the lower left stroke of the 辶 radical appears broken. In “寶” (Bao), the “缶” component is replaced by “尔”, forming the variant “寳”, whose final two strokes are close together, resembling the character “八”. The reverse also shows both an outer and inner rim but is otherwise plain and uninscribed.

The reverse inscription, “Yifen” (one fen), in seal script, is read from right to left. “Yifen” indicates that this coin is a “proxy silver coin,” equivalent to one fen of silver, with one hundred fen equalling one tael of silver. The Zhaowu Tongbao was minted in Hengzhou (present-day Hengyang) and has been unearthed in various locations, including Qingyang, Gansu.

Although the Zhaowu Tongbao closely resembles Ming coins in form, its monetary policy continued the late Ming practice of using silver as the primary currency and copper as a secondary currency. The concept of “proxy silver coins” with a fixed silver-to-coin ratio, as seen in the Zhaowu Tongbao, was a policy inherited from the Shunzhi era. In the second year of Shunzhi (AD 1645), it was established that ten wen equated to one fen of silver, consistent with the Zhaowu Tongbao.

Wu Sangui (AD 1612–1678), originally a prominent Ming general stationed in Liaodong, later facilitated the Qing entry through Shanhai Pass, aiding in the defeat of Li Zicheng’s forces, and subsequently surrendered to the Qing court. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Pingxi and tasked with governing Yunnan. To stabilise the southwest, the early Qing established the Three Feudatories system, granting Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, and Geng Jingzhong significant military, administrative, and fiscal autonomy as feudatory princes. However, the growing power of the feudatories posed a threat to the central Qing authority. In the early Kangxi period, the Qing court resolved to abolish the feudatories, prompting Wu Sangui to launch the Revolt of the Three Feudatories in AD 1673 under the banner of “opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming.” In AD 1677, as the revolt faltered, Geng Jingzhong and Shang Kexi surrendered to the Qing. In AD 1678, to bolster morale, Wu Sangui proclaimed himself Emperor, establishing the Wu Zhou regime with the era name Zhaowu and designating Hengzhou as its capital. Despite its claim to restore the Ming, the Wu Zhou regime was primarily centred on the Wu family, relying on military control and coin minting to sustain its finances. Wu Sangui died later that year, succeeded by his grandson Wu Shifan, but the regime rapidly collapsed, extinguished by Qing forces in AD 1681. Wu Sangui and the Wu Zhou regime remain controversial in historical discourse, viewed alternately as symbols of rebellion or as figures of transitional significance.

物件編號: A3653

年代: 公元 1678 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 23.0 x 23.2 x 0.9 mm

重量: 3.25 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

此錢應為吳周皇帝吳三桂於康熙十七年(公元1678年)，建元昭武時所鑄之「昭武通寶」小平錢，即幣值一文。黃銅質，形制與明錢類似。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。錢面錢緣具外輪，外輪較闊，錢穿具內廓。錢文為「昭武通寶」楷書，由上至下、由右至左對讀。「武」字較闊，「戈」旁橫劃成水平，右上點劃改為橫劃之下；「通」字右上「マ」旁筆劃未封口，「辶」旁左下疑斷筆；「寶」字「缶」旁從「尔」，呈「寳」，末兩筆距離相近，似「八」。錢幕亦具外輪內廓，但光素無文。

昭武通寶雖形制頗類明錢，貨幣政策亦延續晚明以銀為主幣，以銅為輔幣的作法。但固定銀錢相權比例的「權銀錢」，實為順治朝以來之貨幣發行政策。順治二年(公元1645年)，定每十文當銀一分，正與昭武通寶相同。

吳三桂(公元1612–1678年)，原為明末遼東駐防大將，後於山海關開關引清兵入關，協助清軍攻滅李自成，遂降清廷，得封平西王，鎮守雲南。清初為穩定西南，設三藩制，分別封吳三桂、尚可喜、耿精忠為藩王，給予其軍政自主與稅收特權。然三藩勢力日益坐大，構成對中央政權之威脅。康熙初年，清廷決意撤藩，吳三桂遂於公元1673年以「反清復明」為號召起兵，發動三藩之亂。公元1677年，因戰事不利，耿、尚氏先後降清。公元1678年，吳三桂為振奮軍心，自立為帝，建號「周」，年號昭武，定都衡州，史稱吳周政權。吳周政權雖號稱復明，實則以吳氏家族為核心，以軍事控制地方、鑄行錢幣以支撐財政。吳三桂於同年病逝，其孫吳世璠繼位，但政權迅速敗退，至公元1681年為清軍所滅。吳三桂及吳周政權被後世視為亂臣逆子或時代過渡的象徵，頗具爭議。