1 Cash – Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

By 1858, the currency situation within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was one of profound crisis and innovation, reflecting the rebellion's broader struggle for legitimacy and stability. Having established its capital at Nanjing in 1853, the Taiping leadership immediately sought to break from Qing monetary systems by issuing its own coinage. These coins, bearing inscriptions like "Taiping Tianguo" (Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace) and "Shengsbao" (Holy Treasure), were a direct challenge to Qing authority and a vital tool for administering their controlled territories in central China. However, production was inconsistent, often limited to captured mints, and the coins circulated primarily in core areas around the Yangtze River basin.

The primary challenge was severe hyperinflation, driven by massive military expenditure and a reliance on printing paper currency. The Taiping issued "Tianchao Tianfu" (Heavenly Dynasty Treasury Notes) denominated in silver taels, but these were not backed by specie reserves. As the war drained resources and public confidence waned, these notes depreciated rapidly. By 1858, following years of brutal warfare including the recent internal strife of the Tianjing Incident (1856), the paper money was largely worthless outside of forced transactions. This forced the population and the Taiping's own administration to revert to using older Qing copper cash or silver bullion for everyday trade, undermining the rebel state's economic sovereignty.

Consequently, the currency landscape in 1858 was a fragmented and unstable duality. In Nanjing and key military strongholds, devalued Taiping paper notes and sporadic copper coins circulated under official decree. Yet in much of the countryside and in practical commercial dealings, the older Qing monetary system persisted by necessity. This failure to establish a trusted, unified currency severely hampered the Taiping's ability to pay troops, procure supplies, and build a sustainable economy, becoming a critical weakness as the war entered a prolonged and costly phase against Qing forces now reinforced by regional armies.