Yung Zheng T'ung Pao

[ Yung Cheng T'ung Pao or Yong Zheng Tong Bao ]

( 1723 ~ 1736 A.D. )

Part A

During the reign of Yung Zheng, there was probably no need for a more issue of coins for the market demand in the country, because of the sufficien coins minted in the reign of K'anghsi, and also due to the shortage of copper supply at that time. The issue of Yung Zheng T'ung Pao was limited, not so many of them are extant today.

Marks of Rareness of the Collected Currencies
Extremely Rare A ~ Very Rare B ~ Rare C ~ Not So Many D ~ Common E

Obverse	Reverse	Description
		No. 0001
		Mint: Anhwei
		Diam. 28 mm
		Wt. 5.2 g.
		Rareness E
Peculiarity
This coin was cast from 1731 to 1734, bearing Manchu characters "Pao An" on the reverse. We also can see clearly the composition of copper with other metals melted unevenly on the both sides. [The standard content of a national coin should be 60% copper and 40% zinc in the Qing dynasty. ]
		No. 0177
		Mint: Anhwei
		Diam. 21 mm
		Wt. 2.4 g.
		Rareness E
Peculiarity
This is another Yung-Zheng "Pao An" copper cash. But the rim of this cash is lost. I found this cash in a string of "Kuang Hsu T'ung Pao" copper cash. Its diameter is 21mm, similar to the "Kuang Hsu T'ung Pao" cash. Its rim was cut away by someone for its metal value. So that its weight is reduced to 2.4 g. about the half of its original weight. This copper cash is known as "Chien-Pien Ch'ien" by the Chinese. [Copper cash, its rim was cut or chiseled away by someone.] In the Chinee history, as the price of copper rose, normally copper cash would be melted down or the rim of the cash would be cut away for their metal to make utensils. This is a common practice. According to the Imperial decrees of the 4th year of the Yung Zheng reign (1726AD) and also the 5th year one, the Qing government repeatedly prohibited the use of brass utensils in order to check the practice. Though these prohibitions did not work for the natural economic factors. [The exchange rate to silver from 1000 Standard cash to 1 tael of silver reduced to about 845 Standard Cash to 1 tael of silver during the Yung Zheng period.]
		No. 0002
		Mint: Kiangsi
		Diam. 28 mm
		Wt. 5.6 g.
		Rareness D
Peculiarity
This coin cast with Manchu characters "Pao" and "Ch'ang" on the reverse. I personally think that this is a rare coin in Hong Kong, although most of the articles or references of Chinese coinage suggest this coin as common coin.
		No. 0003
		Mint: Yunnan
		Diam. 27.5 mm
		Wt. 5.6 g.
		Rareness E
		No. 00030
		Mint: Yunnan
		Diam. 26 mm
		Wt. 3.5 g.
		Rareness E
Peculiarity
Pao Ch'uan Chu [Board of Revenue] in Yunnan Province first established in the 34th year of the Chia Tsing reign of Emperor Shih Tsung of the Ming Dynasty (1555) casting coins which were not for local use. All products were sent to the capital. The use of copper cash began from 1647AD in Yunnan Province, when the peasant insurrectionary armies of Sun K'e Wang entered Yunnan, shells were forbidden using as legal tender again. During Qing dynasty, most of the copper was produced in Yunnan province. Copper for casting coins was mainly supplied by Yunnan province too. These two cash coins were cast in different mints in Yunnan province. From the inscriptions on the obverse of the two coins, we find that the Chinese character "T'ung" are different from each other, the upper one has only one dot on the "boat" of the Chinese character "T'ung" , while the lower one has two dots. The "foot" of the Chinese character "Pao" are not the same too. More about the coinage of Yunnan province, please read coin No.64 in part D of K'ang Hsi page.