The Ming Dynasty. China. Full emperor set. From Hongwu 洪武 （1367）to Chongzhen 崇禎 （1644）。 In sequence: Hongwu Yongle Xuande Hongzhi Jiajing Longqing Wanli Taichang Tianqi Chongzhen This set represents the full official cash coins issued by the various Emperors of the Ming Dynasty from its founding by the Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) to the last official emperor Chongzhen (Zhu Youjian) who hanged himself from a tree behind the imperial palace upon the fall of the capital Beijing to the rebels under Li Zicheng. Not every Ming emperor issued coins under their reign and hence the actual number of Emperors exceed the types of coins issued under the Ming Dynasty. In addition to this 10, there were also coins issued in relation to the Ming Dynasty such as Dazhong （before the official inauguration of the Ming）and southern Ming issues (after Chongzhen) but that will be another sub-set. The Ming Dynasty was a powerful maritime Dynasty which replaced the Mongol Yuan upon a successful rebellion. Their reign saw the reunification of China under Han rule and expansion of their global influence through their maritime expeditions especially under the Yongle Emperor and his trusted Admiral Zhenghe. However the mid to late reigns of the Dynasty saw a drastic decline largely due to the influence of eunuchs, palace intrigues and incompetent Emperors culminating in a successful rebellion which forced the Chongzhen emperor to suicide. This paved the way for the Manchu Dynasty succession with the help of powerful Ming Generals and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. However the Manchu Qing retained most of the Ming Dynasty's system of governance and administration to maintain their legitimacy and stability of the empire. Among the Ming Dynasty issues, there exists some disputed coinage such as the extremely rare Hongxi 洪熙通寶 and zhengde 正德通寶. The former has 2 existing specimens known with one in the Chinese National Museum and another lost to posterity. Many replicas exists and some even theorized that they were minted after the Ming Dynasty. For Zhengde, official mintage did not include it but many charms were issued in the title due to the belief that it could exist albeit extremely rare "like the feathers of a phoenix". For that reason these 2 were not often included in the set. Also, some sets include the Dazhong 大中通宝 issued by zhu Yuanzhang while rebelling against the Yuan Dynasty. Whilst he eventually established the Ming Dynasty with the official Hongwu title, some numismatists sometime include Dazhong in the set for the reason that it was the same emperor. Finally, the Ming Dynasty did not completely end with Chongzhen. Various scions of the Imperial family claimed succession of the Ming even during the Qing Dynasty rule in China such as loyalists such as Koxinga and various remnants in Southern China. It would take many decades until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor when the final remnants effectively capitulated thus finally ending the Ming Dynasty for good. These contenders were commonly referred to as the Southern Ming Dynasty. #china #Chinese #Ming #mingdynasty #medieval #coins #numismatics #chinesecoins #cash #cashcoins #coincollecting #antique #中国 ＃大明 ＃明朝
Thank you.. The Ming Dynasty coins are often a secondary popular set to complete after the Qing Dynasty. The ones I have here are not quiet the very rare variants and many are very common. Except for the Longqing Emperor, many are quiet common if you don't aim for the rare types.. lol
I would no doubt buy all copy's. Those of you that specialize in these cash coins are quite talented. Here in the US every time I see one I cringe that it would be fake.
Fakes are plenty even outside of the US. However I can sense you know your cash coins very well.. That's really uncommon in the US and really a great experience and skill to have..
The only real experience I have is looking and reading what you and a few others have posted over the years here on CT. I would love to have a few in my collection. I love the look of these and other styles you folks post.
