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.

物件編號: A407

年代: 公元 1909 年

材料: 銀

尺寸: 23.5 x 23.5 x 1.3 mm

重量: 5.05 g

製造地: 奉天, 東三省造幣廠

來源:

1. 諾南斯 2022

2. 大衛.萊斯利.福布斯.西利舊藏

這是宣統元年 (公元1909年)，位於奉天的「東三省造幣廠」鑄造之「宣統元寶」銀幣，面額為一錢四分四釐。

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」。

錢幣背面有兩道珠圈，最內圈是以漢/滿雙語拼寫的「宣統元寶」。外圍的左右兩側以一枚大五角星跟兩枚小五瓣花飾為分界，上緣鐫刻地名「東三省造」，下緣則是面額「庫平一錢四分四釐」字樣。

光緒33年 (公元1907年)，清廷將龍興之地滿州改制為奉天、吉林和黑龍江三個行省，並且同時設立管轄三地的東三省總督，由袁世凱的手下幹將徐世昌擔任首任總督。徐世昌以漢人身分擔任掌管滿人原鄉的要職，側面展現清末以來漢人和滿人在官僚體制的消長。建省的同一時間，長期鑄造錢幣的奉天造幣廠也易名為「東三省造幣廠」，持續提供該地區所需的貨幣。

公元1911年，辛亥革命推翻清室以降，為滿足市場對於小面額貨幣的需求，造幣廠仍持續鑄造面額一錢四分四釐的宣統元寶。不過民國成立後鑄造的宣統元寶，取消原先滿文和英文的宣統皇帝稱號，並且有不同的版型出現。直到民國17年 (公元1928年)，張學良通電全國「東北易幟」前夕，控制當地的奉系軍閥仍在持續鑄造和流通宣統元寶。