Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事!
Qing Dynasty, Guangxu Tongbao,
Kwangtung Province (Guangxu 26th year version)
清 光緒通寶
廣東省造 (光緒二十六年版)
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).