Item number: A438

Year: AD 1905

Material: Copper

Size: 28.7 x 28.7 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 7.35 g

Manufactured by: Kiang-nan Mint Bureau Silver Dollar Bureau, Nanjing

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a copper coin of ten cash, produced in the 31st year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1905) by the “Kiang-nan Mint Bureau Silver Dollar Bureau” located in Nanjing. The coin follows the Western style and is inscribed with “Guangxu Yuanbao.”

The obverse of the coin features a water dragon emerging from the water with a fireball in its mouth. On either side of the dragon, Manchu script characters “Bao Ning” is engraved as separators. The upper edge bears the English inscription “KIANG-NAN,” while the lower edge indicates the denomination “TEN CASH.”

Kiangnan Province, with Nanjing as its capital, was an old administrative region from the early Qing Dynasty. Although it was divided into Jiangsu and Anhui provinces during the Qianlong period, the term “Kiangnan” continued to be used through the late Qing and early Republican eras.

The reverse of the coin features a beaded circle enclosing four Chinese characters, “Guangxu Yuanbao,” with a six-petalled flower design in the centre. On either side of the coin, the minting year “Yǐ Sì” is engraved. The upper edge bears the inscription “Minted in Kiangnan Province,” while the lower edge indicates the denomination “Ten Cash.”

During the Yǐ Sì year, copper coins produced in Kiangnan Province featured four different combinations based on the pairing of obverse and reverse dies: “flying dragon/water dragon” and “Manchu script/flower design.” Furthermore, the flying dragon motif can be further subdivided into two versions based on the flame details on the tail: “seven flames” and “eight flames.”

In the 27th year of Guangxu (AD 1901), Jiangsu Province, with Nanjing as its capital, began minting machine-struck copper coins, following Guangdong’s example. Starting the following year, the copper coins minted in Nanjing, marked “Kiangnan Province,” featured cyclical dating, which became a distinctive characteristic.

However, by the 32nd year of Guangxu (AD 1906), the oversupply of machine-struck copper coins led to a price decline. To control the economy and reclaim the right to mint coins, the Qing court ordered the cessation of copper coin minting across all provinces. Despite this, the regional governors, whose power had significantly increased since the Boxer Rebellion, were reluctant to relinquish the profits from minting. Consequently, the court’s ban was only partially effective, leading to a loss of public trust in copper coins and rendering them less effective in achieving their intended economic function.

物件編號: A438

年代: 公元 1905 年

材料: 紅銅

尺寸: 28.7 x 28.7 x 1.5 mm

重量: 7.35 g

製造地: 江南鑄造銀元制錢總局，南京

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31年(公元1905年)，位處南京的「江南鑄造銀元制錢總局」生產的西式「光緒元寶」銅元，其面額為「十文」。

錢幣正面的中央是一隻躍出水面的水龍，口中吐出一顆火球。外圍的左右兩側鐫刻滿文「寶寧」兩字為分界，上緣鐫刻「江南」(KIANG-NAN)英文字樣，下緣則是面額「十文」(TEN CASH)。江南省是清初以南京為省會的舊行政區。即便在乾隆年間，該行政區早已被劃分為江蘇和安徽兩省，不過其意象仍持續沿用至清末民初。

錢幣背面有一道珠圈，裡面有楷書「光緒元寶」四字，正中央為一個六瓣花飾。錢幣兩側鐫刻出廠的干支紀年「乙巳」，上緣為地名「江南省造」，下緣則是面額「當十銅元」字樣。

江南省於乙巳年間出廠的銅元，按正面「飛龍/水龍」和反面「滿文/花飾」模具搭配，就有四種不同的種類組合。其中的飛龍圖騰還能按照尾巴的火焰細節，再細分為「七焰/八焰」兩種版本。

光緒27年(公元1901年) 7月，以南京為省會的江蘇效仿廣東，開始鑄造本省的機鑄銅元。隔年起，南京鑄造的「江南省」銅元都會標註出廠時間的干支紀年，成為其一大特色。而光緒32年(公元1906年)，由於各省的機鑄銅元供過於求，導致其價格下跌。朝廷為控制經濟和收回地方鑄幣權，下令各省停止鑄造銅元。然而八國聯軍以來，權力大幅提升的各地方總督不願放棄鑄幣背後的收益，因此朝廷的禁止效果有限。最後卻也造成市場對於銅元的信任不足，使其無法有效發揮原先設想的經濟作用。