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Hongwu Tongbao

Type Object Region China Time 1368–1398

Hongwu tongbao was the official copper coin issued by Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang in the first year of Hongwu (1368), the standard currency of the ear…

Timeline

  1. 1368Yingtian Prefecture · ChinaAfter Zhu Yuanzhang established the state name 'Great Ming,' he cast 'Hongwu tongbao,' setting one cash as the standard small coin, strictly banning earlier small coins and private minting to unify the currency system and stabilize finance and market exchange after the founding.
  2. c. 1369–1390Nanjing Baoyuan Mint · JiangnanThe court established the Baoyuan and Baoquan mints in the capital to oversee casting, and subsequently set up furnaces in the provinces; Hongwu tongbao came in multiple varieties—plain reverse, value-marked reverse, and place-marked reverse—and circulated throughout the early Ming realm.

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