2021-05-04 Tue

The Kangxi Emperor was the third Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The Kangxi Emperor is considered one of China's greatest emperors.

His reign of 61 years (from 1661 until 1722) makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world.

Under the Kangxi Emperor, the weights and standards of the brass cash coins changed several times and the bimetallic system of Qing dynasty coinage was established. Under his reign, 23 mints operated at various times with many closing and reopening, the coins produced under the Kangxi Emperor all had the obverse inscription Kang Xi Tong Bao. As the name Kangxi was composed of the characters meaning "health" and "prosperous" the Kang Xi Tong Bao cash coins were already viewed as having auspicious properties by the Chinese people.

Today Kangxi Tongbao cash coins are commonly used as charms and amulets where different forms of superstition have developed around its mint marks and calligraphy. A notable characteristic is that the outer rim on Kangxi Tongbao cash coins on both sides of the coin tends to be quite wide, in contrast to that of the square center hole. Under the Kangxi Emperor cash coins with the inscription, Kangxi Tongbao were produced with both a Chinese character and a Manchu character on the reverse side of the coin at provincial mints.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org