Good luck with a full return in favorable winds; Smooth sailing

This is a Chinese amulet coin used to enhance luck, pray for a good harvest, and increase safety and wealth. On the front, the auspicious words “Good luck with a full return in favorable winds” are cast, and the outer circle is decorated with ingot patterns. On the back, a sailing ship pattern is depicted, integrating the dual symbols of maritime trade and agricultural harvest. It is a classic carrier for merchants and fishermen in the Ming and Qing dynasties to pray for safe voyages and bountiful harvests. Interestingly, many Chinese fishermen also like to wear it to avoid having no catch.

The Chinese sail is a hard “balanced trapezoidal inclined sail”, which has a relatively high efficiency when sailing against the wind. However, Chinese sailing ships mainly navigate on inland rivers and near the coast and cannot freely use the skill of sailing against the wind, so they rely heavily on sailing with the wind. Therefore, “Good luck with favorable winds” implies that everything goes smoothly during the voyage. “A full return” not only means that the merchant ship returns with a full load of goods but also metaphorically represents a bountiful harvest in the farmland. The outer circle of the characters is decorated with ingot patterns. The ingot is the main form of gold and silver currency in the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, with strong purchasing power and also implying wealth.

On the back of the coin, there is a pattern of a sailing ship and mountains, implying “abundant harvests both on the sea and on land”. Seek wealth amidst the waves and dangers and enjoy life on the mountains and land.

This type of amulet coin is often hung on the mast of a merchant ship or at the door of a farmer’s house. Through the visual symbols of “a ship loaded with goods” and “granaries full of grain”, it creates a sense of security at the psychological level. The combination of the ingot and the sailing ship reflects the simple view of the universe that “wealth comes with the ship, and grains come with the wind”. In the Qing Dynasty, fishermen often threw this type of coin into the sea to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King before going out to sea, praying for favorable weather; farmers buried it in the ridges of the fields, symbolizing “using the power of the tide to moisten the land”.