Item number: A155

Year: AD 1900-01 / 1902-03

Material: Silver

Size: 13.0 x 13.0 mm

Manufactured by: Fujian, Fookien Official Silver Bureau

Provenance: Noonans 2022

This silver coin is the “Guangxu Yuanbao” minted by the “Fookien Official Silver Bureau”, established in the provincial capital Fuzhou, with a face value indicated as 1 mace 4.4 candareens according to the standardized weight system “Kuping” used for taxation during the Qing Dynasty. Both sides of the coin are covered with a brown toning.

The obverse side features a front-facing coiled dragon in the centre. The upper rim is inscribed with the English inscription of “FOO-KIEN PROVINCE” according to the Wade-Giles system. It’s worth noting that this English inscription does not adopt the pronunciation of Fuzhou (Min Dong dialect), where the mint was located (Hók-gióng). Instead, it resembles the pronunciation in Hakka (Fuk-kien), commonly used in the regions of Southern Fujian and Northern Guangdong. The lower rim in English indicates the coin’s value as “1 MACE AND 4.4 CANDAREENS.” On both sides, there is a decoration of a four-petal flower on the left and right.

The reverse side features a concentric circle. The circle bears the Chinese characters “Guangxu Yuanbao” in regular script, while the central Manchu script inscription “Guangxu Yuanbao”. The upper rim is inscribed with the minting location “Made by Fookien Official Silver Bureau,” and the lower rim indicates the currency value as “Kuping 1 mace 4.4 candareens.”

After the Opium Wars, the Qing Empire intensified its trade relations with the Western world. During this process, foreign silver with lower silver content flooded into China, leading to a significant outflow of Chinese Sycee silver with higher silver content. This exacerbated financial difficulties for the government and social unrest. In the 13th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1887), Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting permission to introduce machinery from the British Birmingham mint to establish a mint in Guangdong to produce silver coins. After the imperial court approved the proposal, production of the “Guangxu Yuanbao” began in Guangdong in the 15th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1889), marking the initiation of machine-struck currency in China.

In the 17th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1891), Fujian initially purchased silver coins produced in Guangdong for circulation. However, due to the inconvenience of transportation, continuous reliance on Guangdong for purchases was not considered ideal. To address this, Sun Baojin, a local gentry in the provincial capital Fuzhou, decided to travel to Guangdong for observation. After learning from this experience, he returned to Fujian and proposed to the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang that they should establish their own mint. In the 20th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1894), with official permission, merchants gathered funds to establish the private “Fookien Silver Dollar Bureau” in Fuzhou. In the 26th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1900), the bureau was reorganized into the official “Fookien Government Silver Bureau,” expanding to a scale with twelve workshops. The Government Silver Bureau issued Guangxu Yuanbao in four denominations, using two different varieties: “Four-Petal Flower” and “Dot in Circle.” (See table)

The four-petal flower decoration on the silver coins mentioned above began casting in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1900) and ceased production the following year. It resumed casting in the 28th year of Guangxu (AD 1902) until production ceased again in the 29th year of Guangxu (AD 1903). In August of the 30th year of Guangxu (AD 1904), considering the demand for commercial transactions, the government resumed casting denominations other than nickel. The four-petal flower decorations on both sides of the obverse were replaced with dot decorations. The original four-petal flower decoration on the reverse was also eliminated. Concerned that merchants might mistake the new version for counterfeit and refuse to accept it, the provincial government issued a decree informing the public about the differences between the new and old versions.

In the 31st year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1905), the Government Silver Bureau was renamed as the “Fookien Mint Subsidiary Factory” and ceased operations in December of the same year. Subsequently, after undergoing several name changes, the factory ceased operations in the 3rd year of the Republic of China (AD 1914). Today, only the place name “Fan Qian Zai Chang” (Fuzhou dialect, meaning Foreign Coin Factory) remains to commemorate the bygone era.

物件編號: A155

年代: 公元 1900-01 / 1902-03 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 13.0 x 13.0 mm

製造地: 福建, 福建官局

來源: 諾南斯 2022

此硬幣為福建省府福州的「福建官局」鑄造之「光緒元寶」銀幣，其面額依清代納稅制式重量「庫平」標示為一錢四分四釐。該硬幣兩面皆為棕色包漿覆蓋。正面中央為一隻正面蟠龍。上環的英文以威妥瑪系統拼寫「福建省」(FOO-KIEN PROVINCE)，若再進一步跟福建各地方言作比較，上述對於「福建」的英文拼音，並非採納造幣廠所處的福州(閩東)話發音(Hók-gióng)，反而跟通行於閩南和粵北一帶的客家話(Fuk-kien)較為近似。下環的英文則是幣值「一錢四分四釐」(1 MACE AND 4.4 CANDAREENS)。左右兩側各有一個四瓣花作裝飾。

背面有一道珠圈。珠圈內有中文楷書「光緒元寶」四字，正中央滿文鐫刻「光緒元寶」。上環鐫刻鑄造地「福建官局造」，下環為貨幣價值「庫平一錢四分四釐」。

鴉片戰爭後，清帝國跟西方世界日益頻繁的貿易過程中，含銀量較低的洋銀大舉流入中國，造成含銀量較高的中國紋銀大量外流，加重政府財政困難和社會動盪。光緒13年(公元1887年)，時任兩廣總督的張之洞為此上奏朝廷，奏請從英國喜敦公司引入機器，於廣東設局鑄造銀元。經朝廷奏准後，光緒15年(公元1889年)廣東開始生產「光緒元寶」，開啟中國機鑄貨幣的濫觴。

於光緒17年(公元1891年)起，福建先是跟廣東購買其生產的銀元使用。但有感交通不便，長期向廣東購買並非上策，為此省城福州的鄉紳孫葆瑨決定前往廣東觀摩，學成歸來後跟閩浙總督建議自行設廠。光緒20年(公元1894年)，商人們獲得官方許可後，集資在福州成立民營「福建銀元局」。光緒26年(公元1900年)，「福建銀元局」改制為官辦「福建官銀局」，擴張為擁有十二個廠房的規模。官銀局依照納稅的重量單位「庫平」，發行四種面額的光緒元寶，分別使用過「四瓣花」和「圓點」兩種版別 。(見下表)

上述銀元中，四瓣花裝飾始鑄於光緒26年(公元1900年)，於隔年停鑄。光緒28年(公元1902)再度鑄造，直到光緒29年(公元1903年)停鑄。光緒30年(公元1904年)8月，有鑑於民間交易的需求，政府重新鑄造半角以外的面額。將正面兩側的四瓣花飾，改為圓點裝飾。並取消背面原有的四瓣花飾。考量到商家收到新版別，恐以為是假幣不願意接受，省政府還特別出諭告知民眾新版別跟舊版別的差異。

光緒31年(公元1905年)，官銀局改稱為「福建造幣分廠」，同年12月停鑄。後續經數次更名，民國3年(公元1914年)工廠走入歷史。如今其廠址僅留有「番錢仔廠」(福州方言，外國錢廠)地名憑弔往昔。