Item number: A465

Year: AD 1904-1906

Material: Copper

Size: 28.1 x 28.1 x 1.6 mm

Weight: 8.35 g

Manufactured by: Guangdong, Canton Mint

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a coin from the 30th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (AD 1904), representing the new version of the “Guangxu Yuanbao” copper coins minted in Guangdong Province, considered the cradle of modern machine-struck coinage in China.

On the obverse side, there is a beaded border, within which a dragon facing right is depicted, with its left front claw grasping a pearl. The outer rim is divided by floral patterns on the left and right sides, with the top inscription in Wade-Giles romanisation reading “KWANG-TUNG,” and the bottom indicating the denomination as “TEN CASH.”

On the reverse side, there is also a beaded border, within which the four Chinese characters “Guangxu Yuanbao” are inscribed in regular script, accompanied by the Manchu script “Bao Guang” arranged from left to right. The outer rim is divided by floral patterns on the left and right sides. The top is engraved with “Made in Guangdong Province,” while the bottom features the denomination inscription inspired by Jiangsu Province, which reads “Every Yuan equals Ten Cash.”

In June of the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1900), Guangdong took the lead in minting Western-style copper coins with a denomination of “One Cent,” followed by the neighbouring provinces of Fujian and Jiangsu. In the 27th year of Guangxu’s reign (AD 1902), the imperial court further encouraged and opened the production of copper coins by provinces.

However, four years later, due to oversupply from various provinces, the price of machine-struck copper coins declined. To control the economy and reclaim the minting authority from local governments, the imperial court ordered provinces to cease minting copper coins. However, since the Eight-Nation Alliance, the power of provincial governors had significantly increased, and they were reluctant to give up the profits from minting coins. As a result, the effectiveness of the imperial court’s prohibition was limited. Ultimately, this situation led to a lack of trust in copper coins in the market, rendering them unable to fulfil their intended economic role effectively.

物件編號: A465

年代: 公元 1904-1906 年

材料: 紅銅

尺寸: 28.1 x 28.1 x 1.6 mm

重量: 8.35 g

製造地: 廣東, 廣東錢局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是光緒30年(公元1904年)，作為中國近代機械鑄幣搖籃的廣東省，所鑄造的新版「光緒元寶」銅元。錢幣正面有一道珠圈，內圈是一隻向右擺首的飛龍，龍的左前爪握著一粒龍珠。外圈的左右兩側以五瓣花為分界，上緣是以威妥瑪拼音標示的「廣東」(KWANG-TUNG)，下緣則是幣值「十文」(TEN CASH)。

背面亦有一道珠圈，內圈有楷書字體的「光緒元寶」四個漢字，以及從左至右排列的滿文「寶廣」兩字。外圈的左右兩側以五瓣花為分界，上緣鐫刻「廣東省造」，下緣是參考江蘇省的幣值字樣「每元當制錢十文」。

光緒26年(公元1900年) 6月，廣東率先鑄造面額「一仙」西式銅元後，鄰近的福建和江蘇省隨即跟進。光緒27年(公元1902年)，朝廷進一步上諭鼓勵和開放各省仿效鑄造銅元。

然而四年後，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。