Manufactured by: Peiyang Silver Dollar Bureau, Tianjin
Provenance: Stack’s Bowers 2024
This is a “Guangxu Yuan Pao” silver coin minted by the Peiyang Silver Dollar Bureau in the 29th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1903). It was produced following the ravages of the Eight-Nation Alliance, and it bears the denomination of 7 Mace 2 Candareens.
The obverse side features a five-clawed coiled dragon exhaling a fireball, with the English inscription “29 th YEAR OF KUANG HSU” marking the year of minting. It is worth noting the two small dots beneath the “th” underline and the three small dots at the end of the “U.”
Starting from the 25th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1899), the English year of minting was typically engraved on the obverse side of coins minted by the Peiyang, continuing until the 34th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1908) when minting ceased. The bottom edge bears the English transliteration of the mint name, “PEI YANG,” with a large dot on each side, and the “G” ending with a small dot at the bottom right corner.
On the reverse side, there is a beaded border, within which the characters “Guangxu Yuan Pao” are engraved in both Chinese and Manchu scripts. The outer periphery on both sides is divided by circular dots, with the inscription “Made by Peiyang” along the upper edge and the denomination “Kuping 7 Mace 2 Candareens” along the lower edge, denoting the weight according to the taxation system of the Qing Dynasty.
This coin is embedded in a silver dish crafted by the renowned Shanghai silversmith Zee Sung, with the manufacturing period estimated to fall roughly between AD 1927 and AD 1932.
The predecessor of the Silver Dollar Bureau was the Peiyang Arsenal, a significant military and minting factory during the late Qing Dynasty. In the 22nd year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1896), the Arsenal initially minted a series of silver coins denominated in “Yuan/Cent,” a departure from the prevailing monetary system based on the weight unit “Kuping” used by various regional mints. This move reflected the debate over the monetary system between the “Yuan/Tael” system in late Qing China. Eventually, in the 25th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1899), succumbing to local pressure, the central Peiyang Arsenal adopted the “Kuping” unit, following the example of Hubei and Guangdong, for its new coins.
In the 26th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1900), the Peiyang Arsenal faced its greatest challenge since its establishment—the onslaught of the Eight-Nation Alliance during the Boxer Rebellion. The conflict resulted in severe damage to the factory buildings, nearly halting operations. It wasn’t until three years later, under the leadership of Yuan Shikai, that reconstruction efforts began in a different location. However, the coin minting operations, previously managed by the Arsenal, were transferred to the newly established Peiyang Silver Dollar Bureau. As a result, the Arsenal reverted to focusing solely on its core business of arms manufacturing.
錢幣正面是一隻吐出火球的五爪蟠龍，上緣以英文「光緒29年」(29th YEAR OF KUANG HSU)標示鑄造年份。「th」底線下方的兩點和「U」結尾有三粒小圓點是值得注意的細節。自光緒25年(公元1899年)起，北洋造在正面皆會鐫刻該年度的英文年份，直到光緒34年(公元1908年)停鑄為止。下緣則是廠名「北洋」(PEI YANG)的英文拼音，其左右兩側各有一粒大圓點，「G」右下角以一小圓點作收尾。
