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| Ming coinage | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ming coinage |
| Period | Ming dynasty (1368–1644) |
| Region | China |
| Common coins | cash coins, silver sycees, foreign bullion |
| Materials | bronze, brass, copper, silver |
| Notable mints | Beijing Mint, Nanjing Mint, Fujian, Guangdong |
Ming coinage Ming coinage refers to the coinage system and monetary instruments circulating during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), encompassing cash coins, silver ingots, and foreign bullion that underpinned fiscal policy, tax collection, and trade across East Asia. Influenced by imperial edicts, provincial administrations, maritime commerce, and interactions with polities such as the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yuan dynasty, Mongol Empire, Joseon Dynasty, Ryukyu Kingdom, and European merchants like the Portuguese Empire, Ming coinage affected regional markets, tribute missions, and silver flows from the Spanish Empire and Philippines (Spanish colony).
The initial restoration of Han Chinese rule under Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) prompted reforms linking revenue extraction to commodity levies, prompting new issues and abolition attempts related to paper money used under the Yuan dynasty. Successive reigns including the Yongle Emperor, Xuande Emperor, Jiajing Emperor, Wanli Emperor, and Chongzhen Emperor adjusted mint output amid crises such as peasant uprisings, the Tumu Crisis aftermath, and Manchu pressure leading to the Shun dynasty and Qing conquest of the Ming. Maritime trade under the Treasure voyages and contacts with Dutch Republic and Spanish Empire transformed silver inflows, notably after the opening of the Lima mint and the Manila galleon trade linking New Spain and Southeast Asia with ports like Ningbo and Guangzhou.
Ming coinage included cast copper-alloy cash coins (round with square holes), silver sycees (boat-shaped and brick forms), and minority use of paper notes and foreign coins such as Spanish dollars and Portuguese cruzados. Cash denominations were nominal and measured by weight standards in taels, mace, and candareens used alongside silver currency units familiar to officials from regions like Jiangnan, Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang. Tribute payments and diplomatic gifts sometimes used distinct presentation pieces linked to courts in Ryukyu Kingdom and Joseon Dynasty.
Casting workshops at state and provincial mints adopted sand and clay molds inherited from the Song dynasty and Tang dynasty traditions while integrating improvements sparked by contact with metallurgists in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangsu. Metallurgical composition varied: copper, tin, and lead alloys produced bronze, brass, or red copper coins; silver purity in sycees correlated with bullion from Mexico, Peru, and Central Asian trade routes via Gilan and Dunhuang. Notable minting centers included the imperial workshop at Beijing and regional facilities in Nanjing, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou, which faced shortages leading to remints and alloy debasement during reigns like Wanli Emperor’s. Technological exchange occurred through contacts with Portuguese Empire metalworkers and Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci who documented Chinese metals.
Coinage circulated in complex interplay with tax systems such as the lijia system adaptations, the Single Whip Reform precursors, and market monetization in urban centers like Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Beijing. Exchange rates between cash coins and silver were regionally variable and influenced by silver influxes from the Manila galleon, demand in handicraft hubs, and price shocks from harvest failures or conflict such as the Imjin War and Ming–Qing transition. Merchants from Southeast Asia, Japan, and Ryukyu Kingdom mediated exchange using locally accepted weights and currencies, while private remittance networks in port cities affected liquidity and conversion rates.
Provincial administrations in Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan issued local variants, emergency issues, and token coins for regional markets; salt and tea monopolies in Sichuan and Fujian also influenced local monetary instruments. Border regions interacted with Mongolia, Manchuria, and Tibetan polities exchanging coinage alongside barter, while maritime provinces engaged with the Dutch East India Company, English East India Company, and Spanish Empire through bullion trade.
Widespread counterfeiting occurred in urban centers and borderlands, involving illicit cast copies, underweight sycees, and clipped coins produced by clandestine minters in locales such as Guangzhou and Fuzhou. Officials prosecuted offenders through magistrates in Beijing and provincial courts, yet private minting by merchants and military paymasters—sometimes sanctioned during emergencies—complicated enforcement. International counterfeit detection relied on assays tied to silver supplies from New Spain and informal testing practiced by merchant houses in Ningbo and Macau.
Modern numismatics traces Ming coinage through catalogues, auction records, hoard discoveries, and museum collections in institutions like the National Palace Museum (Taiwan), Palace Museum (Beijing), British Museum, and private collections linked to scholars of Chinese numismatics and historians of East Asian trade. Research draws on archaeological digs at sites in Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and port excavations at Quanzhou and Xiamen as well as archival materials from the Ming Veritable Records. Collecting communities, auction houses, and numismatic societies in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, and New York City facilitate study, authentication, and preservation of Ming issues.
Category:Chinese coinage