Emperors in history have an era name, from the pre-Qin to the early Han Dynasty, there is no era name, the emperor has an era name, such as Zhenguan, Kangxi, Qianlong and so on. The Qing Dynasty had an emperor who had two era names, and he was known as the Tongzhi Emperor.
The Tongzhi Emperor, whose name was Ai Xin Jue Luo Zaichun, was the tenth emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In fact, Tongzhi is his first
Two era names, his first year number is called "Qi Xiang".
In July of the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), the Xianfeng Emperor died of illness at the Rehe Summer Resort, and the eight ministers led by Sushun ruled the government as ministers of gu orders according to the will, and supported the 6-year-old Prince Zaichun to succeed to the throne, agreed to change the auspicious "Qixiang" New Year number the following year, and ordered the casting of "Qixiang Tongbao" and "Qixiang Heavy Treasure" to make money.
However, what they did caused the power-hungry Empress Dowager Cixi of the Western Palace to panic, and she joined forces with empress dowager Ci'an of the Eastern Palace, secretly colluded with Prince Gong Yixuan, and after returning to Beijing, she suddenly launched a palace coup on September 30, quickly capturing and killing Sushun, Zaiyuan, Duanhua and others.
Empress Dowager Cixi, in the name of assisting the young emperor in governing the government together, announced that she would bow to the government and abolish the era name of "Qi Xiang" and change it to the era name of "Tongzhi". The newly minted "Qi Xiang" coins were quickly returned to the furnace to re-mint "Tongzhi" coins. From birth to death, the "Qi Xiang" year number money was only a few dozen days before and after.
So this is the origin of the "Tongzhi" era name, it is estimated that the Tongzhi Emperor is also the only emperor with two era names, and the number of newly minted "Qi Xiang Heavy Treasures" is limited, and it has disappeared in people's sight before it has been circulated, which is also the value of this ancient coin, after all, things are rare and expensive.
Qi Xiang Zhongbao money diameter about 3. 5 cm, weight 12. About 5 grams. The Qianmian script "Qi Xiang Chongbao" is written in letters, and its text is read from top to bottom to right and left. The back of the money is perforated with the Manchu name of "Baoquan" or "Baoyuan" in two bureaus. Above and below the perforation is the Chinese notation of the word "Dang Ten". Soon after the casting of the "Qi Xiang Heavy Treasure", the regent of Empress Dowager Cixi changed the yuan to "Tongzhi", and the Qi Xiang Tongbao was not allowed to pass, so it was rarely passed down in this world. Qi Xiang Tongbao also casts a back, as well as "Qi Xiang" and "Tongzhi" different numbers of back money.
The two coins are wide-edged and rust-free, and the inner Guo piercing mouth has the characteristics of Qing Dynasty coins, the face and back text are solemn and neat, the copper is delicate, the color is golden, the mint is well-minted, well preserved, and it is tireless to see. According to the "History of the Qing Dynasty", it was cast with high-quality Yunnan brass.
From the ascension of Shunzhi to the abdication of Xuantong (1911), the Qing Dynasty experienced a total of 10 generations of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Xuantong, that is to say, 10 emperors. According to the Qing system, each dynasty only minted one year coin, which should have been 10, but in history, 11 era number square hole coins were issued, and this extra one was the "Qi Xiang" year number money. This involves the historical background of the birth and demise of the "Qi Xiang" era name Qian - "Qi Xiang Coup" (because it occurred in the year of Xin You, also known as the "Xin You Coup").