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 16^th 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.

物件編號: A29

年代: 未明

來源: SBP錢幣拍賣 2023

此硬幣名為臺灣軍餉，其正中央印著圍繞太極符號呈圓形環繞狀的「臺灣軍餉」四個字。圓的外圍則是面額「大清壹兩」，在文字之間有著花紋裝飾。硬幣背面印有龍馬波紋圖，上半部為一隻龍，下半部則是一隻馬。硬幣的左右兩側各有滿文「ᠪᠣᠣ/ ᡨᠠᡳ」翻譯為中文是「寶/臺」。然而有收藏者認為該硬幣為「民間私鑄紀念章」非由當時官方鑄造。此硬幣被寫作「壹兩」外，亦有寫作「臺兩」的臆造形式，為此能推測其非為清代錢幣。

而軍餉在台灣的歷史，始於道光16年(公元1836年)因嘉義發生民變，福建省轄下的臺灣道緊急撥款予臺灣府鑄「謹慎」軍餉應急。清朝官方後續發行過「老公銀」、「如意」、「筆寶」等不同樣式軍餉。光緒12年(公元1886年)二月，專門製造彈藥的台北機器局竣工。光緒16年(公元1890年)以候補知府督辦的銀圓局在台北成立，並在機器局內鑄造仿廣東龍圖的銀輔幣，僅造有庫平一錢四分四厘、七分二厘和三分六厘，上述三種面額，其特色均為硬幣背面無滿文。然而公元1895年《馬關條約》將臺灣割讓予日本，上述工作便走入歷史。