Item number: A420

Year: AD 1905-1906

Material: Copper

Size: 27.7 x 27.7 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 6.95 g

Manufactured by: Hubei, Hanyang Arsenal

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a Guangxu Yuanbao Western-style copper coin with a denomination of ten cash, minted between Guangxu 31 and 32 (AD 1905-AD 1906) by the Hanyang Arsenal, primarily a manufacturer of weapons and ammunition.

During the late Qing Dynasty, there were three factories in Hubei Province involved in minting copper coins, with the Hanyang Arsenal being the last to start production, minting approximately 50,000 coins.

On the obverse of the coin, there is a five-clawed coiled dragon breathing fire. Compared to other mints, the minting technique of the Hanyang Arsenal was relatively crude. Due to the passage of time, most of the dragon’s scales have been worn smooth and are no longer visible. The periphery features small four-petal floral decorations on both the left and right sides as dividers. The upper edge is inscribed with “HU-PEH PROVINCE” in Wade-Giles romanisation, where the letter “R” in “PROVINCE” appears more like an “H.” The lower edge bears the denomination “TEN CASH,” although the word “CASH” is now barely legible.

On the reverse of the coin, there is a beaded circle enclosing the Chinese characters “Guangxu Yuanbao” and a five-petal floral design. The central five-petal floral design serves as the distinguishing mark of the Hanyang Arsenal, differentiating it from other mints which use six-petal or eight-petal designs. The outer periphery features the Manchu script “Bao Yuan” from left to right. The lower edge is inscribed with the denomination “Ten Cash” in Chinese characters, while the upper edge bears the inscription “Made in Hubei Province.”

Since the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1900), Hubei Province, under the administration of Zhang Zhidong, issued copper coins with denominations of one cash and ten cash the following year. Hubei, being a crucial transportation hub in Central China, had an immense demand for currency. Consequently, Hubei alone had three entities responsible to produce copper coins: the Silver Coin Bureau, the Copper Coin Bureau, and the Hanyang Arsenal. These three units collectively accounted for an astonishing one-third of the total national copper coin production. The ten cash copper coins were further categorised into four types based on floral design variations: six-petal flowers, eight-petal flowers, coins, and five-petal flowers.

However, by the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1906), the oversupply of machine-cast copper coins from various provinces led to a decline in their value. To control the economy and reclaim the minting rights from local authorities, the imperial court ordered all provinces to cease minting copper coins. Despite this directive, the significantly empowered regional governors since the time of the Eight-Nation Alliance were reluctant to relinquish the profits associated with coin minting. Consequently, the effectiveness of the imperial prohibition was limited. This situation ultimately led to a lack of market confidence in the copper coins, preventing them from effectively fulfilling their intended economic function.

物件編號: A420

年代: 公元 1905-1906 年

材料: 紅銅

尺寸: 27.7 x 27.7 x 1.4 mm

重量: 6.95 g

製造地: 湖北, 漢陽兵工廠

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至32年(公元1905-1906年)間，本業是生產武器彈藥的漢陽兵工廠鑄造的「光緒元寶」西式銅元，其面額為十文。清末於湖北一省便有三座工廠投入銅元鑄造，漢陽兵工廠為最晚起步者，鑄造數量在5萬餘枚左右。

錢幣正面有一隻口吐火球的五爪蟠龍，相較於其他廠房，漢陽兵工廠的鑄造技術較為粗糙，且惜因年代久遠，全身的龍鱗多半被磨平已不復可見。外圍的左右兩側各有一枚小朵四瓣花飾作為分界，上緣以威妥瑪拼音標示「湖北省」(HU-PEH PROVINCE)，其中省分的字母「R」看似為「H」。下緣則鐫刻面額「十文」(TEN CASH) ，其中「CASH」字樣已不甚清晰。

錢幣背面有一道珠圈，內部是漢字楷書「光緒元寶」和五瓣花飾。正中間的五瓣花飾是漢陽兵工廠的識別標誌，能藉此跟他廠「六瓣花/八瓣花」作為區別。外圍按照左至右的順序寫有「寶源」兩字的滿文，下緣以漢字標示面額「當十」，上緣則是「湖北省造」字樣。

光緒26年(公元1900年)起，張之洞治理的湖北省發行面額分別為：一文和十文的銅元。湖北作為華中重要的通衢，對於貨幣的需求量極為龐大。因此光是湖北一省，就有銀元局、銅元局和漢陽兵工廠，三個單位同時負責銅元的生產，總生產量佔到驚人的三分之一全國銅元總數。面額十文的銅元還按花飾差異，有「六瓣花、八瓣花、金錢和五瓣花」四種版型。

不過在光緒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。