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,
Xuantong Yuanbao,1 Mace & 4.4 Candareens
Xuantong 1st year,Manchurian Provinces
(Five-Pointed Star Version)
清 宣統元寶
庫平一錢四分四釐
宣統元年 東三省造
(五角星版)
Item number: A407
Year: AD 1909
Material: Silver
Size: 23.5 x 23.5 x 1.3 mm
Weight: 5.05 g
Manufactured by: Fengtian, Eastern Three Provinces Mint
Provenance:
1. Noonans 2022
2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection
This is a Xuantong Yuanbao silver coin minted in the first year of the Xuantong reign (AD 1909) by the “Eastern Three Provinces Mint” in Fengtian, with a denomination of 1 Mace and 4.4 Candareens.
The obverse of the coin features an outer beaded circle, with a central depiction of a five-clawed dragon emitting a fireball from its mouth. On either side of the dragon are pentagonal stars, while the upper edge bears the inscription in English, “FIRST YEAR OF HSUAN TUNG,” and the lower edge denotes the location “MANCHURIAN PROVINCES.” Due to a die issue, the letter “E” in “PROVINCES” resembles the Cyrillic letter “Г.”
The reverse of the coin features two beaded circles. The innermost circle contains the inscription “Xuantong Yuanbao” in both Chinese and Manchu scripts. The outermost circle is divided on the left and right sides by a large five-pointed star and two smaller five-petalled floral ornaments. The upper edge is inscribed with the mint name “Mint of the Three Eastern Provinces,” and the lower edge indicates the denomination “Kuping 1 Mace & 4.4 Candareens.”
In the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1907), the Qing dynasty reorganised Manchuria, the land of its ancestral origins, into three provinces: Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. Concurrently, the Qing government established the position of Viceroy of the Three Eastern Provinces to oversee these areas, appointing Hsu Shih-chang, a trusted associate of Yuan Shikai, as the first viceroy.
Hsu Shih-chang’s appointment as a Han Chinese to this significant position in the homeland of the Manchus reflects the shifting balance of power between Han Chinese and Manchus in the late Qing bureaucracy. At the same time as the provincial reorganisation, the long-established Fengtian Mint was renamed the “Mint of the Three Eastern Provinces,” continuing its role in supplying the region with currency.
In AD 1911, following the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, the mint continued to produce the Xuantong Yuanbao coins with a denomination of 1 Mace & 4.4 Candareens to meet the market demand for small-denomination currency.
However, after the establishment of the Republic of China, these coins were modified to remove the Manchu and English references to the Xuantong emperor, resulting in various new designs. Production and circulation of the Xuantong Yuanbao continued under the control of the Fengtian warlords until AD 1928, just before Zhang Xueliang’s announcement of the “Northeast Flag Replacement,” signalling the region’s allegiance shift to the Nationalist government.
錢幣正面的最外圍有一道珠圈,正中央是一條口吐大火球的五爪蟠龍。蟠龍的左右兩側各以一枚五角星為分界,上緣以英文鐫刻鑄造年份「宣統元年」(FIRST YEAR OF HSUAN TUNG),下緣標示地名「滿州諸省份」(MANCHURIAN PROVINCES)。省份的英文字母「E」出於模具問題,其打印效果神似俄文字母「Г」。