Item number: A415

Year: AD 1900

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.9 x 23.9 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 2.95 g

Manufactured by: Guangdong, Canton Mint

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a Guangxu Tongbao coin issued by the Canton mint starting from the 26th year of the Guangxu period (AD 1900), following the previous year’s directive from the Guangxu Emperor. On the obverse, the characters “Guangxu Tongbao” are inscribed in the sequence “top, bottom, right, left.” On the reverse, centred around the square hole, the Manchu characters “Bao Guang” are inscribed on either side.

The appearance of the coin follows the traditional Chinese square-holed design, with the central square hole punched mechanically. However, due to the quality limitations of machinery at the time, the hole-punching machines often required frequent replacement, leading to low production efficiency and high costs. This hastened the phasing out of square-holed coins.

In the 13th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1887), Zhang Zhidong, the Viceroy of Liangguang, imported machinery from England and began minting machine-made silver coins in Guangdong. By May of the 25th year of Guangxu (AD 1899), copper coins with a composition ratio of six parts copper to three parts lead were minted, bearing the denomination “Kuping One Mace” on the reverse. In September of the same year, Zhang Zhidong presented two chests containing a thousand of these copper coins to the Emperor for inspection. The feedback from the Guangxu Emperor was to adhere to the past coin minting tradition, requiring only the inscription “Bao Guang” in Manchu script on the reverse of the coins, without the additional “Kuping One Mace” inscription.

In the following year, the 26th year of Guangxu (AD 1900), the Guangdong mint, in accordance with the Emperor’s decree, changed the reverse to feature only the characters “Bao Guang.” On the other hand, due to the soaring copper prices, the weight of the coins was reduced from the original 1 Mace to 8 Candareens, and even further reduced to 6 Candareens.

In the same year, Guangdong temporarily halted the production of Guangxu Tongbao coins and instead imitated the nearby British Hong Kong bronze coin, the “Cent.” It wasn’t until the 32nd year of Guangxu (AD 1906) that Governor Cen Chunxuan, feeling the shortage of bronze coins in circulation, resumed the production of Guangxu Tongbao square-holed coins. However, the weight was reduced to 3.2 Candareens (1.2 g).

物件編號: A415

年代: 公元 1900 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 23.9 x 23.9 x 0.7 mm

重量: 2.95 g

製造地: 廣東, 廣東錢局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚光緒26年(公元1900年)起，廣東錢局按照前一年光緒皇帝的上諭建議，發行之新版本的光緒通寶。錢幣正面按「上、下、右、左」順序，鐫刻「光緒通寶」四字。錢幣背面以方孔為基準，左右兩側以滿文鐫刻「寶廣」兩字。

錢幣外觀沿襲中國傳統的方孔錢形制，中間的方孔以機械加壓鑿孔。礙於當時的機器品質，往往鑿孔機器每日就要更換數次，導致生產效率低落和成本過高的問題，加快方孔錢被淘汰的步伐。

光緒13年(公元1887年)，時任兩廣總督的張之洞從英國引進機器，於廣東開始鑄造機制銀幣後，光緒25年(公元1899年) 5月，相繼以銅六鉛三的材料比例，鑄造背面帶有面額的「庫平一錢」銅錢。同年9月，張之洞將一千枚銅錢分裝兩匣上呈給皇帝御覽。光緒皇帝的回饋是按過去鑄錢慣例，錢幣背面僅需以滿文鐫刻「寶廣」即可，不必有多餘的「庫平一錢」字樣。

隔年光緒26年(公元1900年)，廣東錢局按照皇帝上諭，將背面更改為「寶廣」兩字。另一方面，礙於銅價高漲，錢幣重量從原先的一錢縮水為八分，甚至還縮水至六分。同一年，廣東仿造相鄰的英屬香港銅仙硬幣，暫時關閉光緒通寶的生產線。直到光緒32年(公元1906年)，時任總督的岑春煊有感市面銅元不足，重新鑄造光緒通寶方孔錢，不過重量縮減至三分二釐(1.2克)。