Item number: A306

Year: AD 1908

Material: Silver

Manufactured by: Central Mint Tianjin Branch, Tianjin

Provenance: Stack’s Bowers 2024

This is a silver coin minted in the 34th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1908) by the Central Mint Tianjin Branch, formerly known as the Peiyang Silver Dollar Bureau. It is responsible for producing the “Guangxu Yuan Pao” silver coins with a denomination of 7 Mace 2 Candareens.

The obverse side features a five-clawed coiled dragon exhaling a fireball, with the English inscription “34 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.

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.

In the 26th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1900), following the destruction caused by the Eight-Nation Alliance to the Peiyang Arsenal, the relevant coin minting activities were transferred to the newly established Silver Dollar Bureau the following year. In the 33rd year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1908), the Silver Dollar Bureau was reorganised into the Central Mint Tianjin Branch under the arrangement of the Ministry of Finance. It continued to play a significant role in finance until the early years of the Republic of China.

The version minted in the 34th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign coincided with a turbulent period. Both the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away in November of that year amidst political turmoil. Due to the chaotic state of affairs, there was a lack of rigorous quality control over the production of Guangxu Yuan Pao coins, resulting in various versions and widespread issuance irregularities. This particular coin is known as the “Long Spine Version,” characterised by the dragon’s tail extending more towards the left on the obverse side. Subsequently, with the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the Guangxu Yuan Pao coins minted in the 34th year were used as military pay to suppress the revolutionary forces moving southward. The influence of these coins spread as the troops crossed the Yellow River and reached regions like Jiangnan, Hunan and Hubei destricts.

物件編號: A306

年代: 公元 1908 年

材質: 銀

製造地: 度支部造幣津廠，天津

來源: SBP錢幣拍賣 2024

這是一枚光緒34年(公元1908年)，從北洋銀元局改制的度支部造幣津廠，負責鑄造之面額七錢二分的「光緒元寶」銀幣。

錢幣正面是一隻吐出火球的五爪蟠龍，上緣以英文「光緒34年」(34th 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。下緣則是指稱工廠「北洋」(PEI YANG)的英文拼音，其左右兩側各有一粒大圓點。

錢幣背面有一道珠圈，裡面是以漢滿兩文鐫刻的「光緒元寶」四字。外圍兩側以圓點為分界，上緣刻有「北洋造」，下緣是依清廷納稅計重單位「庫平七錢二分」標示的幣值。

這枚硬幣被鑲嵌在上海著名銀匠時新打造的銀盤器皿上，其鑄造時間大致落在公元1927至1932年之間。

光緒26年(公元1900年)，原先負責鑄幣的北洋機器局面臨八國聯軍破壞後，隔年相關業務轉予新籌備的北洋銀元局負責。光緒33年(公元1908年)，銀元局在度支部(財政部)安排下改制為造幣總廠的天津廠，直到民國初年仍扮演重要的財政角色。

光緒34年版本的出廠時值多事之秋，光緒皇帝和慈禧太后先後在當年11月離世。國事繁亂的背景之下，該年度鑄造的光緒元寶未經嚴謹的品質管理，故出現許多不同版型和濫發的亂象。該物件為「長尾龍版」，正面的蟠龍尾巴較為向左延伸。後續隨著辛亥革命爆發，34年版光緒元寶作為兵餉支付給南下鎮壓革命的軍隊。該枚錢幣的影響力隨軍隊跨越黃河擴散至江南及兩湖等地。