Item number: A1248

Year: AD 1877-1880

Material: Silver

Size: 11.3 x 10.4 mm

Manufactured by: Kucha, Xinjiang

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2016

In the 3rd year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (October AD 1877), after the Qing army first recaptured Kucha, they aimed to assert their restored authority and reclaim the coinage minted by Yakub Beg. Zhang Yao, the Guangdong provincial military commander assisting the military efforts, recruited local silversmiths to produce imitation tenga silver coins. As the Qing army continued to recapture cities, they repeated this process, minting similar coins in each newly liberated area.

However, by the 6th year of Guangxu (AD 1880), Zuo Zongtang, the general overseeing Xinjiang, sought to address the issues of counterfeiting and poor-quality coins. He decided to replace the imitation tenga coins with new machine-minted silver currency.

This tenga silver coin, bearing the Chinese character “寶” (treasure) on its obverse side, was minted by Qing forces upon entering Kuqa to fund their military expenses.

The reverse side of such coins would typically include the Uyghur inscription for “Fine Silver.” However, on this particular coin, the reverse side shows only a small Uyghur inscription in the lower right corner, while the rest of the space is decorated with abstract floral patterns and an eight-dot mark, likely representing the artisan’s stamp.

In the 3rd year of the Tongzhi Emperor’s reign (AD 1864), Xinjiang was influenced by the Dungan Revolt in the neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The Turkic-speaking Muslims of Xinjiang, sharing the same faith, initiated uprisings to overthrow Qing rule, establishing various independent regimes in the region’s oases. In the following year, the 4th year of Tongzhi (AD 1865), Yakub Beg, a military officer from the neighbouring Central Asian Khanate of Kokand, was invited into Xinjiang. He soon took control, establishing the Yettishar Khanate in southern Xinjiang.

Yakub Beg introduced a Central Asian currency system with the use of Tilla (gold), Tenga (silver), and Pul (copper), which was quickly accepted by the local Muslim population due to their shared Islamic faith. At that time, the Qing dynasty, preoccupied with the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt, lacked the resources to reclaim Xinjiang. It wasn’t until the 2nd year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1876) that Zuo Zongtang, the Hunan Army general responsible for quelling the Dungan Revolt, launched a military campaign to defeat Yakub Beg.

物件編號: A1248

年代: 公元 1877-1880 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 11.3 x 10.4 mm

製造地: 庫車，新疆

來源: 大城郵幣社 2016

光緒3年(公元1877年)10月，清軍率先攻克庫車後，為彰顯恢復自身的統治和回收阿古柏鑄造的錢幣，協助軍務的廣東提督張曜招募當地銀匠，打造模仿阿古柏的天罡銀錢。後續清軍收復一座城池，便依樣畫葫在當地鑄造該類型的錢幣。直到光緒6年(公元1880年)，負責統領新疆的左宗棠為遏止延伸出的偽造和劣質等問題，決定改以機器鑄造新的銀幣取代天罡。

這枚正面打印漢字「寶」的天罡銀錢，為進入庫車的清軍為負擔軍餉所鑄造。錢幣背面通常會打印維吾爾文「足銀」字樣，但這枚錢幣的背面僅在右下角有維吾爾文，其他地方是抽象的花草紋飾和可能代表工匠的八珠點戳記。

同治3年(公元1864年)，新疆受到鄰近的陝甘回變影響，擁有相同信仰的新疆突厥語系穆斯林發動推翻清廷的統治，於各個綠洲建立不同的政權。隔年同治4年(公元1865年)，接鄰的中亞浩罕汗國軍官阿古柏受邀進入新疆，不久即反客為主在南疆建立「哲德沙爾汗國」政權。阿古柏在統治區引入中亞的提拉(金)、天罡(銀)和普爾(銅)貨幣系統，迅速為同為伊斯蘭信仰的居民接受。彼時清廷面對太平天國和陝甘回變無力收復新疆，要待光緒2年(公元1876年)，負責平定陝甘回民的湘軍將領左宗棠，方才發起討伐阿古柏的軍事行動。