Item number: A441

Year: AD 1900-1906

Material: Copper

Size: 27.8 x 27.8 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 7.2 g

Manufactured by: Hubei, Hupeh Copper Coin Bureau

Provenance:

1. Noonans 2022

2. D. L. F. Sealy Collection

This is a Guangxu Yuanbao Western-style copper coin with a denomination of ten cash, minted between Guangxu 26 and 32 (AD 1904-AD 1906) by the Hupeh Copper Coin Bureau.

During the late Qing Dynasty, Hubei Province had three mints engaged in the production of copper coins, and the output from just the Copper Coin Bureau alone ranked highest nationwide.

The obverse of the coin features a five-clawed dragon leaping out of the water and spitting fire. The water dragon motif serves as the distinguishing emblem of the Copper Coin Bureau, setting it apart from other mints that depict coiled dragons. According to the size difference, the fireball can further be categorised into “small fireball / big fireball” versions, with this item being the latter.

The periphery of the coin on both sides features a four-petal flower as a divider. The upper edge is inscribed with “HU-PEH PROVINCE” in Wade-Giles romanisation, and the lower edge displays the denomination “TEN CASH.”

On the reverse of the coin, there is a beaded circle enclosing the Chinese characters “Guangxu Yuanbao” and a six-petal floral design. The central six-petal floral design serves as the distinguishing mark of the Hupeh Copper Coin Bureau, differentiating it from other mints which use five-petal or eight-petal designs. The outer periphery features the Manchu script “Bao Yuan” from left to right. The lower edge is inscribed with the denomination “Ten Cash” in Chinese characters, while the upper edge bears the inscription “Made in Hubei Province.”

Since the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1900), Hubei Province, under the administration of Zhang Zhidong, issued copper coins with denominations of one cash and ten cash the following year. Hubei, being a crucial transportation hub in Central China, had an immense demand for currency. Consequently, Hubei alone had three entities responsible to produce copper coins: the Silver Coin Bureau, the Copper Coin Bureau, and the Hanyang Arsenal. These three units collectively accounted for an astonishing one-third of the total national copper coin production. The ten cash copper coins were further categorised into four types based on floral design variations: six-petal flowers, eight-petal flowers, coins, and five-petal flowers.

However, by the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (AD 1906), the oversupply of machine-cast copper coins from various provinces led to a decline in their value. To control the economy and reclaim the minting rights from local authorities, the imperial court ordered all provinces to cease minting copper coins. Despite this directive, the significantly empowered regional governors since the time of the Eight-Nation Alliance were reluctant to relinquish the profits associated with coin minting. Consequently, the effectiveness of the imperial prohibition was limited. This situation ultimately led to a lack of market confidence in the copper coins, preventing them from effectively fulfilling their intended economic function.

物件編號: A441

年代: 公元 1900-1906 年

材料: 紅銅

尺寸: 27.8 x 27.8 x 1.5 mm

重量: 7.2 g

製造地: 湖北, 湖北銅元局

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是一枚光緒26至32年(公元1900-1906年)間，由湖北銅元局鑄造的「光緒元寶」西式銅元，其面額為十文。清末於湖北一省便有三座工廠投入銅元鑄造，光是銅元局的單一產量就高居全國之冠。

錢幣正面乃是一隻躍出水面，口吐火球的五爪龍。水龍圖飾是銅元局的識別標誌，以跟他廠的蟠龍作為區別。按照大小差異，火球還能細分為「小火球/大火球」兩種版本，此物件為後者。

錢幣的外圍兩側，各有一枚四瓣花飾作為分界，上緣是以威妥瑪拼音的「湖北省」(HU-PEH PROVINCE)，下緣則是面額「十文」(TEN CASH)。

錢幣背面有一道珠圈，內部是漢字楷書「光緒元寶」和八瓣花飾。正中間的六瓣花飾是湖北銅元局的識別標誌，能藉此跟他廠「六瓣花/八瓣花」作為區別。外圍按照左至右的順序寫有「寶源」兩字的滿文，下緣以漢字標示面額「當十」，上緣則是「湖北省造」字樣。

光緒26年(公元1900年)起，張之洞治理的湖北省發行面額分別為：一文和十文的銅元。湖北作為華中重要的通衢，對於貨幣的需求量極為龐大。因此光是湖北一省，就有銀元局、銅元局和漢陽兵工廠，三個單位同時負責銅元的生產，總生產量佔到驚人的三分之一全國銅元總數。面額十文的銅元還按花飾差異，有「六瓣花、八瓣花、金錢和五瓣花」四種版型。

不過在光緒32年(公元1906年)，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。