Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事！
Fantasy coin, 1 tael, taiwan Military
Ration Dollars(Horse and Dragon)
Item Number: A29
Year: ND
Provenance: Stack’s Bowers Galleries 2023
This coin is named “Taiwan Military Ration Dollars,” featuring at its center a circular arrangement of the Taiji symbol surrounded by the inscription ” Taiwan Military Ration Dollars ” in a circular pattern. The outer circumference of the circle displays the denomination ” One Tael of the Great Qing “, adorned with decorative patterns interspersed between the characters.
The reverse side of the coin bears a pattern featuring both a dragon and a horse, with the upper half depicting a dragon and the lower half portraying a horse. On either side of the coin, there is Manchu script, with “ᠪᠣᠣ/ ᡨᠠᡳ” translated into Chinese as “Bao/Tai”. However, some collectors contend that this coin is a “privately minted commemorative medal” and was not officially minted at the time. In addition to being inscribed as ” One Tael,” there are also instances of the fabricated term ” Tai Tael,” leading to the speculation that it is not an authentic coin from the Qing Dynasty.
The history of military ration dollars in Taiwan commenced in the 16th year of the Daoguang era (AD 1836) in response to a civil uprising that occurred in Chiayi. Because of this crisis, the Fukien Treasury allocated silver to the Taiwan Treasury to mint “Prudent” military ration dollars. Subsequently, during the Qing Dynasty, the official issuance included various styles of military ration dollars, such as “Old Man Dollars ,” “Jia-I,” and “Bi Pao.”
In February of the 12th year of Kuang Hsu (AD 1886), the Taipei Arsenal was established to produce arms and munitions with machines. In the 16th year of Kuang Hsu (AD 1890), an official mint was set up in Taipei and three denominations of subsidiary silver coins were minted in the Taipei Arsenal.
While these coins imitated the Kwangtung dragon design (i.e. 1 mace 4.4 candareens, 7.2 candareens, and 3.6 candareens),they lacked the Manchu legend on the Obverse. However, in the year AD 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki resulted in the cession of Taiwan to Japan, marking the conclusion of the practices.
