Item number: A1102

Year: AD 1875-1908

Material: Brass

Size: 21.2 x 21.0 x.1.2 mm

Weight: 3.05 g

Manufactured by: Bao Zhe Bureau

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This coin is suspected to be a “Guangxu Tongbao.” Its distinguishing features include significant deterioration around the square hole and the inscriptions on the coin’s surface.

The obverse of this coin features a central square hole. The inscriptions surrounding the hole are heavily damaged, but it is roughly identifiable as the four characters “Guangxu Tongbao.” The reverse side also has a central square hole, with slight angular discrepancies at the four corners and some damage to the slopes inside the hole. On both sides of the coin, faint traces of Manchu script reading “Bao Zhe” can be discerned, indicating that it was minted by the Bao Zhe Bureau.

The Bao Zhe Bureau was initially established in the 6th year of the Shunzhi reign (AD 1649) under the administration of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. It was originally named the “Zhejiang Provincial Bureau” but was later renamed during the Yongzheng period when minting factories were uniformly designated with the character “Bao” in their names.

During the Qing Dynasty, currency was issued by various regional mints, and measures such as adding or closing mints and reducing the number of furnaces were used to control the circulation of currency. Due to insufficient copper production in Zhejiang, the operations of the Bao Zhe Bureau were intermittent.

In the Xianfeng era, the government began minting high-denomination coins with nominal values, but the issuance of these large coins ironically increased opportunities for private minting. In the 10th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1884), various provinces resumed the production of standard coins to stabilise the market economy.

Meanwhile, Zhejiang gradually adopted machine minting techniques, starting with the Zhejiang Arsenal in the 13th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1887) and later, in the 29th year of Guangxu (AD 1903), with the establishment of the Zhejiang Copper Coin Bureau. This development led to the gradual cessation of traditional minting practises at the Bao Zhe Bureau.

Although the reverse side of this coin bears the official mint mark of “Baozhe Bureau,” its overall appearance shows significant damage. In particular, the central square hole and the inscriptions are severely eroded, raising the possibility that this coin might be a forgery.

物件編號: A1102

年代: 公元 1875-1908 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 21.2 x 21.0 x.1.2 mm

重量: 3.05 g

製造地: 寶浙局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這枚錢幣疑似是「光緒通寶」。其特點是幣面文字皆有顯著的殘缺。

這枚錢幣正面中央有一方孔。方孔四周的文字受到嚴重的損毀，但約略可猜測為「光緒通寶」四字。錢幣反面中央也有一方孔，四個角有些微角度誤差，方孔內的坡度也有部分受損。幣面兩側依稀有滿文「寶浙」字樣，表示為「寶浙局」所製。

「寶浙局」最早設立於順治6年(公元1649年)，由浙江省布政使司管理，最初命名為「浙江省局」，後於雍正時期，統一將鑄幣廠以「寶」字命名。清代貨幣由各地分散發行，並且以增局、撤局、減爐等方式，控制貨幣流通的數量。因浙江生產的銅料不足，導致寶浙局時開時停。

咸豐年間，官方開始鑄造虛值大錢，但大錢的頒發流行反而提高私鑄錢幣的機會。光緒10年(公元1884年)，各省又恢復鑄造制錢，以挽救市場經濟。與此同時，浙江也逐步引進機器鑄造技術，先是光緒13年(公元1887年)的浙江軍火機器局，光緒29年(公元1903年)，又開展浙江銅元局的工作，以傳統工法鑄幣寶浙局不得不逐漸停擺。

儘管這枚錢幣的背面，有官方造幣機構「寶浙局」的字樣，但是由於整體外觀有顯著損傷，尤其中央方孔和幣面文字都有嚴重磨蝕的痕跡，因此不排除是偽造錢幣的可能。