Item number: A439

Year: AD 1906

Material: Copper

Size: 27.8 x 27.8 x 1.3 mm

Weight: 7.1 g

Manufactured by: Nanjing

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a copper coin with a denomination of ten cash, issued from the 32nd year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1906) onwards, following reforms that established it as a branch of the Ministry of Revenue Mint located in Nanjing, specifically the Jiangning branch. It represents the last type of copper coin produced during the Qing Dynasty, known as the “Great Qing Copper Coin.”

The obverse of the coin features a five-clawed dragon emerging from the water, spewing a fireball. The sides of the coin are marked by the Manchu characters “Bao Ning” as separators. The top edge is inscribed with “Kiang-Nan,” representing Nanjing, and the bottom edge denotes the denomination with “Ten Cash.”

The reverse of the coin features a bead circle enclosing the Chinese characters “Great Qing Copper Coin,” with a raised dot in the centre and the engraved abbreviation for Nanjing, “Ning,” within the dot. The outer edge is divided by the characters “Hu Bu.” The top edge is inscribed with the cyclical year “Bing-Wu” and the Manchu characters for “Great Qing Copper Coin.” The bottom edge denotes the denomination with “Equivalent to Ten Cash.”

In the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1906), the Ministry of Revenue, which managed the nation’s finances, discovered that the widespread minting of “Guangxu Yuan Pao” coins by various provinces had caused a devaluation crisis. To address this, the Ministry intervened and revoked the minting rights of the provinces, ultimately retaining only six branch mints, including the Jiangning Mint in Nanjing. According to Ministry regulations, the moulds used by local mints were uniformly issued by the Ministry, with the province’s name engraved in the centre of the reverse side to facilitate central quality inspections.

In April of the 3rd year of the Xuantong reign (AD 1911), the government further promulgated the “Regulations on Currency System,” establishing a new system with the Great Qing silver coins as the standard and the Great Qing copper coins as subsidiary currency. However, the modernisation of the currency reform was halted by the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in the same year.

物件編號: A09

年代: 公元 1906-1911 年

材料: 紅銅

尺寸: 27.8 x 27.8 x 1.3 mm

重量: 7.1 g

製造地: 南京

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是光緒32年(公元1906年) 起，經過改革成為戶部造幣廠位於南京的江寧分廠，發行之清朝最後一種銅幣「大清銅幣」，面額為十文。

錢幣正面是一隻躍出水面，口吐火球的五爪水龍。錢幣的左右兩側以滿文「寶寧」作為分界，上緣鐫刻代表南京的「江南」(KIANG-NAN) ，下緣則為面額「十文」(TEN CASH)。

錢幣背面有一道珠圈，裡面有漢字楷書「大清銅幣」四字，正中央還有一個突起的圓點，並且在圓內陰刻南京的簡稱「甯」。外圍則以「戶部」兩字為分界，上緣鐫刻出廠年度的干支紀年「丙午」和滿文「大清銅幣」字樣，下緣則是面額「當制錢十文」字樣。

光緒32年(公元1906年)，掌管全國財政的戶部發現，地方各省濫造「光緒元寶」造成貨幣貶值的危機。戶部為此介入和收回地方造幣權，最終僅保留六家分廠，其中一家就是南京的江寧廠。按照戶部的規定，地方各廠使用的模具皆由戶部統一發放，唯有在背面正中央鐫刻省名，以便於中央考察品質。

宣統3年(公元1911年) 4月，朝廷又進一步頒布《幣制則例》，奠定以大清銀幣為本位，大清銅幣為輔幣的新制度。然而在同年辛亥革命爆發，清廷的現代化貨幣改革只能宣告停止。