Today we briefly talk about the copper coins of Yongle Tongbao in the Ming Dynasty. Yongle Tongbao was cast by Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty. The first impression of Yongle Tongbao is that it has two characteristics.
The first is that the casting process and fonts are more attractive.
The second point is that there are very few editions.
Now I found that Yongle Tongbao has two major versions, the first one is our common Xiaopingqian. The other is Yongle Tongbao’s big money backed by three coins. There is only one big money carrying three coins, and it is still incomplete, so these are the two most basic characteristics of Yongle Tongbao. When it comes to Yongle Tongbao, it must be combined with the historical background of Yongle Tongbao at that time.
The amount of Yongle Tongbao unearthed in mainland China is not very large. Where did it come from? Unearthed from the Dongsha and Xisha Islands, from Japan, from West Asia, from South Asia, even Africa, and some places in South America, through the explanation of Yongle Tongbao coins, I have to say that a great man in China at that time was Zheng He, under Zheng He In the sixth year of Yongle, the eunuch Zheng He, the navigator of the Ming Dynasty in 1406, started the seven voyages of the Western Ocean that lasted for 28 years under the will of the emperor Zhu Di of Yongle.
The purpose of Zheng He’s voyages to the West is to take the mission of national diplomacy to spread some of the civilization achievements of the Chinese nation, as well as a large number of Chinese-made coins, to various countries in the West. In 1408, he began to cast Yongle Tongbao, which was still there in 1408. When the copper coin was banned, the purpose of casting a large amount of copper coins like Yongle Tongbao was definitely not for domestic circulation, and Zheng He’s voyages to the West were an activity or diplomatic act that was highly valued by the government at that time.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to understand the purpose of casting a large number of Yongle Tongbao copper coins at that time. It is very likely that it was for Zheng He’s voyages to the West and spread to the Western countries. This is why we are now in South Asia, West Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In some places, Yongle Tongbao was unearthed. Of course, what we learned in history is that the American continent was discovered by European Columbus in 1492. In fact, according to some historical facts, it is now proved that Zheng He was the first person to land on the American continent, so Yongle Tongbao It is not only very popular and famous in China, but also very popular and loved by coin collectors in the world.