Item number: A187

Year: AD 1905-1912

Material: Silver

Size: 19.0 x 19.0 mm

Weight: Chengdu Mint, Szechuen

Provenance: Künker 2022

This silver coin, minted in the 28th year of Guangxu (AD 1902) by the Chengdu Mint in Szechuen, represents a quarter-value “Szechuen Rupee”. The obverse of the coin features a left-facing portrait of Emperor Guangxu wearing a hat, marking the first instance in Chinese history where a coin bore the likeness of a sovereign. On the reverse, the inscription “Made in Szechuen Province” is encircled by a floral motif, with a prominent upright flower adorning the centre.

In response to the signing of the Sino-British Treaty for Tibet in the 19th year of Guangxu (AD 1893), British goods and the Indian Rupee, based in India, flooded into Tibet en masse. British merchants exchanged the Indian Rupee, which had a lower silver content, for local silver ingots, leading to the outflow of silver. Furthermore, this facilitated Britain’s gradual control over the Tibetan economy through the Indian Rupee. The Qing Empire’s military forces stationed in Tibet even had to exchange their currency for the Indian Rupee in order to purchase supplies locally.

In the 28th year of Guangxu (AD 1902), faced with the inundation of the Indian Rupee in Tibet and its expansion into the neighboring Szechuen region, Liu Ting Shu, the then Dajianlu Commissioner, manually minted local silver coins to counterbalance this influence. Subsequently, the Szechuen province, utilizing the Chengdu Mint as its base, emulated the Indian Rupee that bore the image of Queen Victoria. They adopted mechanical minting techniques to create the Szechuen Rupee featuring the likeness of Emperor Guangxu, available in three denominations: 1, ½, and ¼. Due to the finite lifespan of the coin dies, engravers were required to manually carve the dies to maintain their clarity, resulting in the emergence of many different versions of the Szechuen Rupee.

The Szechuen Rupee was distributed throughout Szechuen and Tibet, successfully stabilizing the region and curtailing the economic penetration of the Indian Rupee. Intriguingly, Tibetans adhered to traditional practices of cutting larger denomination silver coins into halves or other fractions to facilitate small-scale daily trade. However, the act of splitting the Szechuen Rupee, which bore the Emperor’s portrait, was viewed by Qing officials as a severe disrespect. As a response, Zhao Erfeng, the then Governor of Szechuen, strictly prohibited the cutting of silver coins and introduced the issuance of copper coins as an auxiliary measure, although this had limited effectiveness.

Until the year AD 1911, the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and throughout the Republic of China period, various warlords in control of Szechuen continued to mint and use this type of coin. It was not until the end of AD 1958 that the People’s Republic of China, which controlled Szechuen and Tibet, successfully phased out the circulation of the Szechuen Rupee, consigning it to history.

物件編號: A187

年代: 公元 1905-1912 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 19.0 x 19.0 mm

製造地: 成都造幣廠，四川

來源: 昆克 2022

此枚銀幣為光緒28年(公元1902年)，由四川的「成都造幣廠」鑄造之 ¼ 價值的「四川盧比」。硬幣正面有光緒皇帝的左側戴帽肖像，是中國歷史上第一枚鑄有統治者肖像的錢幣。硬幣背面是為花草紋環繞的「四川省造」四字，中央有一朵直立的花朵裝飾。

面對光緒19年(公元1893年)《中英藏印續約》的簽訂，以印度為基地的英國商品和印度盧比大舉流入西藏，英國商人以含銀量較低的印度盧比換取當地的銀錠造成白銀的外流，以及英國逐漸以印度盧比控制西藏經濟的格局。當時清帝國駐紮於西藏的軍隊甚至需要兌換為印度盧比，方能在當地購買物資。

光緒28年(公元1902年)，面對印度盧比充斥於西藏，甚至擴張到鄰近的四川局面，時任打箭爐同知的劉廷恕手工打製本地的銀幣加以抗衡。後續四川省以成都造幣廠為基地，模仿印有維多利亞女王頭像的印度盧比，以機械鑄幣技術打造帶有光緒皇帝頭像的四川盧比，按照大小差異有：1、½ 和 ¼ 三種面額。由於鑄幣的鋼模有使用壽命，需要雕刻師以手動雕刻維持鋼模的清晰性，使得四川盧比有許多不同的版型出現。

該款四川盧比被送往四川和西藏各地，成功穩定和限制印度盧比的經濟滲透。有趣的是，藏民會依循舊習切割大面額的銀幣為一半或不同等分以滿足日常小額貿易。而裂解帶有皇帝肖像的四川盧比在清廷官員眼中是為大不敬，故時任四川總督的趙爾豐曾嚴令禁止裂解銀幣之舉和發行銅幣作為輔助，但實際效果有限。

直到公元1911年，辛亥革命推翻清朝以後，民國時期控制四川的各路軍閥仍持續鑄造和使用該款錢幣。直到公元1958年底，控制四川和西藏的中華人民共和國才成功淘汰四川盧比的流通使其走入歷史。