Item number: A3659

Reference number: LZ-DMQP#2869

Year: AD 1674-1678

Material: Brass

Size: 23.3 x 23.3 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 3.3 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin was issued in the late Ming and early Qing periods by Wu Sangui, the Prince of Pingxi, who rebelled against both the Ming and later the Qing, establishing an independent regime of his own. It was cast before he proclaimed himself emperor in AD 1678 and belongs to the “Liyong Tongbao” (Liyong Treasure in Circulation) small cash coin series.

The coin follows the traditional form of round coins with a central square hole used throughout the Sinosphere. The obverse bears the inscription “利用通寶” (Liyong Tongbao), read vertically from top to bottom and right to left. The calligraphy is relatively slender. In the character 利 (li), the “禾” radical is wider while the “刂” component is narrow, a variant known as “wide-he li.” The character 用 (yong) connects to the rim but not the central hole. In 通 (tong), the left upper dot of the “辶” radical is written as two dots, and the “マ” component is closed, with the horizontal stroke curved like a duck’s bill—hence called the “duck-bill tong.”

The reverse is plain and uninscribed. Other specimens of Liyong Tongbao may bear additional marks, indicating mint location or value. Coins marked with units of weight denote their value in relation to silver, rather than their physical weight, serving as zheyin qian (“exchange coins”), whose worth corresponded to the prevailing market rate of silver. Those with mint marks were produced in Yunnan and Guizhou, while examples circulating in Hunan were unmarked.

According to scholarly research, the term Liyong does not represent a reign title or state name. Its origin is linked either to the Neo-Confucian principle of liyong housheng (“beneficial use and enrichment of the people”), which emphasised economic pragmatism, or simply to the idea of “usefulness,” marking the coin’s functional purpose as currency. The geographical isolation of Yunnan from the Central Plains made it difficult for imperial coinage from the central government to reach the region in a timely manner. Consequently, even before Wu Sangui’s open rebellion against the Qing, he had already begun to mint his own coins using Yunnan’s abundant copper resources. Yunnan’s trade in tea and minerals with Tibet and Annam (Vietnam) provided the economic foundation to sustain his large military expenditures.

Since the mid-Ming period, the valuation of copper coins against silver had become common practice, though the exchange ratio varied over time. Late Ming and early Qing authorities, amid continuous warfare and monetary instability, introduced zheyin qian (silver-denominated coins) as an attempt to stabilise currency value and restore public confidence, since silver was already widely used and considered more stable. This practice was initiated by the Southern Ming Yongli Emperor in the final years of his regime and later adopted by the Qing under the Shunzhi Emperor, as well as by the Xi dynasty and Wu Zhou regimes. However, due to fluctuations in the silver–copper exchange rate and the persistent practice of melting down coins for copper, the system was eventually abolished during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor.

Wu Sangui, originally a Ming general, surrendered to the Qing and played a decisive role in allowing their forces through Shanhai Pass. He assisted in pursuing the remaining Southern Ming loyalists into Burma, where he personally executed the Yongli Emperor with a bowstring. For these services, he was enfeoffed by the Qing as the “Prince Who Pacifies the West” (Pingxi Wang), governing Yunnan and Guizhou, and became the most powerful Han Chinese figure in early Qing politics. In AD 1673, shortly after the Kangxi Emperor’s accession, the implementation of the “Reduction of the Feudatories” (xuefan) policy provoked Wu Sangui’s discontent. He allied with Geng Jingzhong, the “Prince Who Pacifies the South” of Fujian, and Shang Zhixin, the “Prince Who Pacifies the South” of Guangdong, as well as with the Eastern Ming Kingdom in Taiwan, launching a rebellion under the pretext of avenging the Ming. The uprising was not completely quelled until AD 1681, when Qing forces entered Kunming, forcing Wu Sangui’s grandson to commit suicide.

After taking control of Yunnan in AD 1659, Wu Sangui’s administration faced chronic shortages of central coinage due to the province’s remoteness. He therefore utilised local copper resources to mint coins for circulation in Yunnan and Guizhou, which also spread to Hunan, Sichuan, and Guangxi, and even became common in neighbouring Annam. Following the suppression of Wu’s regime in AD 1681, the Qing court twice ordered the recall of coins minted under his Great Zhou authority. Nevertheless, these efforts were largely ineffective, and Liyong Tongbao coins continued to circulate locally well into the late Qing period.

物件編號: A3659

參考書目編號: LZ-DMQP#2869

年代: 公元 1674-1678 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 23.3 x 23.3 x 1.0 mm

重量: 3.3 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚明末清初，叛明復又叛清自立的平西王吳三桂，於叛清但未稱帝(公元1678年)之前，所鑄行的利用通寶小平錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的的方孔圓錢。錢面錢文為「利用通寶」，由上至下，由右至左對讀。字體較細。「利」字「禾」旁較寬，「刂」旁較窄，稱「寬禾利」；「用」字連輪不接穿；「通」字「辶」旁左上點劃為兩點，「マ」旁筆劃封口，橫劃呈弧，形似鴨嘴，稱「鴨嘴通」。

錢幕則光素無文。其他利用通寶則可能有紀地、紀值等標記。有重量單位者為紀值而非紀錢重，是為折銀錢，與銀重勾兌。紀地者有雲南、貴州，湖南則並未標記。

「利用」兩字根據學者考證，並非為年號或國號的意思，其出處是提倡重視經濟的「利用厚生」思維，或單純的「利於使用」，標記其作為貨幣的用途。雲南遠離中原的地理限制，使得朝廷中央鑄造的貨幣難以及時輸往當地。因此在吳三桂起兵反叛清朝以前，就有利用雲南豐富的銅礦自行鑄幣，並且以茶葉和礦產等天然資源和西藏跟安南兩地有密切的商業來往，以解決駐軍所需的龐大開銷。

官定銀錢對價自明中葉以來已十分普遍，唯比率隨時移易，但明標銀重的折銀錢為明末清初各政權由於戰亂頻仍，貨幣紊亂，從而嘗試以當時市場已普遍流通，且價值較穩定的白銀以平準幣值、建立信用的產物。由南明永曆帝於政權末期始創，清順治帝、大西、吳周政權均曾應用，最終由於銀錢對價波動，民間鎔錢取銅禁之不絕，於清康熙年間先後廢止。

吳三桂為明朝降將，協助清軍進入山海關和追擊南明殘餘勢力直到緬甸，親手以弓弦絞殺南明永曆皇帝有功，被清朝受封於雲南和貴州為「平西王」，成為清初政治地位最為顯赫的漢人。公元1673年，登基不久的康熙皇帝推行「削藩」政策，引起吳三桂的不滿。吳三桂聯繫福建的「靖南王」耿精忠、廣東的「平南王」尚之信和盤距在臺灣的東寧王國，以替明朝復仇為由發起叛亂。直到公元1681年，清兵成功進入雲南昆明逼迫吳三桂的孫子自刎，方才成功平定叛亂。

自公元1659年，吳三桂入主雲南後，由於地處偏遠使得中原的錢幣無法進入雲南。吳三桂便利用雲南豐富的銅礦自行鑄造錢幣，供雲南和貴州兩地使用，流通至湖南、四川、廣西等地，甚至在比鄰的安南也極為流通。公元1681年，清廷成功平定吳三桂的勢力後，先後曾經兩度要求地方回收大周政權鑄造的錢幣，然而效果不彰直到清末仍在當地持續流通使用。