Item number: A411

Year: AD 1910

Material: Bronze

Size: 16.7 x 16.7 x 0.8 mm

Weight: 1.3 g

Manufactured by: Guangdong, Canton Mint

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a square-holed bronze coin from the Xuantong 2nd year of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1910), minted by the Canton mint using machinery. During the Guangxu period, the provinces began to widely adopt the mechanised minting of Western-style silver and copper coins, leading to a gradual decline in the circulation of square-holed coins. Consequently, the minting techniques for these coins evolved from traditional sand casting to mechanised minting.

The coin features the design of a square-holed coin, with a smooth, round hole punched in the centre using machinery. Traditionally, the square hole had practical purposes, such as threading coins together for ease of carrying and accounting. However, in the era of mechanised minting, the hole retained only cultural significance. The additional step of punching the hole even increased the production cost.

On the obverse of the coin, the characters “Xuantong Tongbao” are inscribed in the sequence “top, bottom, right, left.” The reverse features the characters “Bao Guang” on either side of the central square, indicating that it was minted by the Canton mint.

物件編號: A411

年代: 公元 1910 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 16.7 x 16.7 x 0.8 mm

重量: 1.3 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

這是一枚清朝宣統2年(公元1910年)，廣東錢局以機器鑄造的方孔錢形制銅錢。隨著光緒年間，各省開始普及機械鑄造西式銀幣和銅幣以後，方孔錢的流通日益遞減，其鑄造工藝也從傳統的翻砂演進為機械鑄造。

錢幣外觀為方孔錢形制，正中央的方形部位以機器打出一個平整的圓孔。過往方孔有串上繩子以便攜帶和統計的實質意義，然而進入機械鑄幣時代，打洞僅具備文化象徵的意義，甚至因為還要追加一道手續，使其鑄造的成本提高。

錢幣正面按「上、下、右、左」序列，寫有「宣統通寶」四字。背面則以中央的方形為基準，自左而右於兩側寫上「寶廣」兩字，表示其由廣東錢局鑄造。