Great Qing Copper Coin
The Great Qing Copper Coin
Two series of Tongyuan (銅元) were simultaneously in circulation, one carried the inscription Guangxu Yuanbao (光緒元寶), which was also used for silver coins, and the other with the inscription "Great Qing Copper Coin". While the Guangxu Yuanbao were often provincially issued and at first were of different weights, the Great Qing Copper Coin was introduced by the imperial government in the hope of creating a unified national currency system.
Name
The Great Qing Copper Coin featured the English text "Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo Copper Coin" (where "Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo" refers to the Qing dynasty), along with Traditional Chinese characters "大清銅幣" (literally "Copper Coin of the Great Qing") which were the names of the coinage in English and Chinese languages. They were used to indicate that this series was supposed to be the standard coinage of the entire Qing empire as opposed to provincial coinages.
In modern English sources, the coinage is often referred to as the "Great Qing Copper Coin"[2] or the "Qing Dynasty Copper Coin",[3] along with pinyin transliterations from the Chinese name "大清銅幣" such as "Da-Qing Tongbi", "Da Qing Tong Bi",[4] and "Daqing Tongbi".[5]
The Qing dynasty had a bimetallic coinage system,[6] and similar titles were also used for other standardised metal coinages such as the silver Great Qing Silver Coin (大清銀幣) and the gold Great Qing Gold Coin (大清金幣).[7][8][9]
History
Due to a shortage of copper at the end of the
From the year 1901, the provinces of Jiangsu, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fengtian, Hunan, Beiyang Zhili, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Shandong, Henan, Guangxi, and Yunnan had all begun to manufacture milled copper-alloy coins and distributed them nationwide. They became so popular that by the 31st year of the Guangxu Emperor (1906) they were being produced at 15 different bureaus in 12 provinces.[citation needed]
The government of the Qing dynasty established a modern coin factory at the Ministry of Revenue Mint (formerly the "Tianjin Silver Money General Mint") in Tianjin in the year 1903 and the mint began to produce milled copper-alloy coins in 1905.[11] At the same time, the government of the Qing dynasty ordered the entire country to produce the Great Qing Copper Coin to replace the former "Guangxu Yuanbao" and unified and standardised national currency system.[12] The government of the Qing dynasty hoped to regain control of its currency system in order to also get more control over its own internal affairs.[11] In the year 1906, the Ministry of Revenue had issued the "Regulations on the Rectification Law" (整頓圜法章程), and had merged 24 mints around China into only 9.[13]
The Great Qing Copper Coins were initially issued in the denominations of 2 wén, 5 wén, 10 wén, and 20 wén with each of these denominations being based on their nominal value in traditional cash coins.
Design
The designs of the Great Qing Copper Coin are similar to that of the Guangxu Yuanbao coins, the inscription "Great Qing Copper Coin" (大清銅幣) written in large Traditional Chinese characters occupied the centre part of the obverse side of the coin.[14] In the very centre of the coin, between the "Great Qing Copper Coin" characters, were one or two small Chinese characters indicating the provincial mint where the coin was manufactured.[14]
Near the top of the rim of the coin on the obverse side, there was text written in
The reverse side of the Great Qing Copper Coin, like the Guangxu Yuanbao provincial coinages, also had the design of a Chinese dragon on it, but these dragons have much fewer variations in comparison to those on the Guangxu Yuanbao milled coins because of the imperial government's efforts in standardising designs.[14] Near the upper part of the outer rim were the Traditional Chinese characters "光緒年造" (and later "宣統年造") written from right to left,[18][19] meaning "minted during the Guangxu (or Xuantong) years" (same as the meaning of the Manchu text inscribed near the upper part of the outer rim on the obverse side).[14] Near the lower part of the outer rim was the text, written in English, "Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo Copper Coin",[14] where "Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo" refers to the Qing dynasty.
Mint marks
Mint marks of the Great Qing Copper Coin | ||
---|---|---|
Mint mark | Province |
Image |
皖[20] | Anhui | |
閩[21] | Fujian | |
粵[22] | Guangdong | |
汴[23] | Henan | |
鄂[24] | Hubei | |
湘[25] | Hunan | |
甯[26] | Jiangnan | |
蘇[27] | Jiangsu | |
贛[28] | Jiangxi | |
吉 | Jilin | |
奉[29] | Fengtian | |
镇[30] | Qingjiang | |
東[31] | Shandong | |
川[32][33] | Sichuan | |
雲[34] | Yunnan | |
滇[34] | Yunnan | |
滇川[35] | Yunnan-Sichuan | |
浙[36] | Zhejiang | |
直[37] | Zhili |
Years
Years on the Great Qing Copper Coin | |
---|---|
Chinese calendar[a] | Gregorian calendar |
巳乙[18] | 1906 |
午丙[18] | 1907 |
未丁[18] | 1908 |
申戊 | 1909 |
酉己 | 1910 |
戌庚 | 1911 |
Denominations
Denominations of the Great Qing Copper Coin | ||
---|---|---|
Denomination | Traditional Chinese |
Image |
1 wén | 一文 | |
2 wén | 二文 | |
5 wén | 五文 | |
10 wén | 十文 | |
20 wén | 二十文 |
Contemporary counterfeit Great Qing Copper Coin
Not long after these new copper coins were introduced, black market counterfeit versions of the 10 wén appeared and illegal mints or "private mints" (局私) opened all over China and started producing more coins than what the Qing government's set quotas allowed on the market. Both Chinese and foreigners soon started producing struck cash coins of inferior quality, often with traces of the Korean 5
Notes
- right to left.
References
- ISBN 9780914584810.
- ^ Fujian Province made the Great Qing Copper Coin and the Chinese Yuanbao Layout and Market
- ^ Qing Dynasty Copper Coin
- ^ Qing Dynasty Da Qing Tong Bi Made in Guang Xu Year
- ^ Daqing Tongbi of Guangxu from Wuchang, Hubei
- S2CID 158146530.
- ^ 平景賢; 王金谷. 中國錢幣珍品系列紀念章介紹 (一). 中國錢幣. 1991, (2): 79. (in Mandarin Chinese).
- ^ "光绪丙午年造大清金币库平壹两一枚" (in Chinese (China)). 北京保利国际拍卖有限公司. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ "光绪丙午年造大清金币库平一两金质样币". 西泠印社 (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- ^ G.X. Series "Chinese Provinces that issued machine struck coins, from 1900s to 1950s". Last updated: 10 June 2012. Retrieved: 29 June 2017.
- ^ a b 广州轩宇艺术 (16 May 2019). "轩宇艺术:石先生出手一枚罕见户部造鄂字版大清铜币" (in Chinese (China)). 中经在线网 (Zhongjin News). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ 博华文化传媒 (19 December 2019). "广州博华文化传媒有限公司:张先生出手一组两枚价值不菲的户部造大清铜币" (in Chinese (China)). 中经在线网 (Zhongjin News). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ 博华文化 (15 September 2019). "广州博华文化传媒:刘先生出手一枚价值不菲的户部造大清铜币" (in Chinese (China)). The Hua Bei. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Chinese coins – 中國錢幣 - Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty (1644-1911)". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ 互联网 (13 January 2019). "集艺术经济和历史于一身的古钱币——大清银币宣统三年壹圆" (in Chinese (China)). 中经在线网 (Zhongjin News). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ 钱藏说钱 (31 March 2019). "从"两"到"圆"—大清银币计值币制改革揭秘" (in Chinese (China)). Sohu. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ISBN 978-4-492-01005-1 第XII 貨幣金融制度(各国) 7.中国 a通貨制度 (執筆者:宮下忠雄). (in Mandarin Chinese).
- ^ a b c d e Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu no mintmark". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Xuantong". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Anhui, 皖)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Fujian, 閩)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Guangdong, 粵)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Henan, 汴)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Hubei, 鄂)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Hunan, 湘)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Jiangnan, 甯)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Jiangsu, 蘇)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Jiangsi, 贛)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Fengtian, 奉)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Qingjiang, 镇)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Shandong, 東)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Sichuan, 川)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Xuantong (Sichuan, 川)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ a b Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Yunnan, 雲 or 滇)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Yunnan-Sichuan, 滇川)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Zhejiang, 浙)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Numista (28 December 2019). "10 Cash - Guangxu (Zhili, 直)". Numista. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Chinese "10 Cash" Coins Overstruck on Korean "5 Fun" Coins". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 30 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ Ye Zhenming (叶真铭) for qianbi (钱币) 揭秘"韩改版"铜元(叶真铭)。 Published: 发布日期:12-01-18 08:15:49 泉友社区 新闻来源:www.jibi.net 作者:叶真铭。 Retrieved: 3 July 2017. (in Mandarin Chinese using Simplified Chinese characters)
Sources
- Dai Zhiqiang (戴志強), ed. (2008). Zhongguo qianbi shoucang jianshang quanji (中國錢幣收藏鑒賞全集) (Changchun: Jilin chuban jituan). (in Mandarin Chinese).
- Nei Menggu qianbi yanjiu hui (內蒙古錢幣研究會), Zhongguo qianbi bianjibu (《中國錢幣》編輯部), ed. (1992); Cai Mingxin 蔡明信 (transl.). Zhongguo guchao tuji (Beijing: Zhongguo jinrong chubanshe). (in Mandarin Chinese).
- Peng Xinwei (彭信威) (1954 [2007]). Zhongguo huobi shi (中國貨幣史) (Shanghai: Qunlian chubanshe), 580–581, 597–605. (in Mandarin Chinese).
- Xie Tianyu (謝天宇), ed. (2005). Zhongguo qianbi shoucang yu jianshang quanshu (中國錢幣收藏與鑒賞全書) (Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe), Vol. 2, 508. (in Mandarin Chinese).
- Zhou Fazeng (周發增), Chen Longtao (陳隆濤), Qi Jixiang (齊吉祥), ed. (1998). Zhongguo gudai zhengzhi zhidu shi cidian (中國古代政治制度史辭典) (Beijing: Shoudu shifan daxue chubanshe), 372, 375, 380, 381, 382. (in Mandarin Chinese).
External links
- Daqingtongbi.com, a website dedicated to these coins. (in Mandarin Chinese)