CHINA, March 2017
Qing Dynasty Machine Stuck Cash, 1887 – 1888CHINA, Qing Dynasty – Guang-Xu (Emperor De Zong, reigned 1875-1908) milled brass one cash of Zhejiang (Chekiang) Province.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang mint. Square, open head ‘tong’. There are numerous die varieties including an closed head ‘tong’ (1896) that is lighter, 7 fen or 2 – 3 grams. Considering that cast cash had been used in China for over two thousand years, you can understand the reluctance to change the form of the coinage once machine operated minting became available. Obverse: Guang Xu tong bao (top, bottom, right , left) reign title with tong bao meaning ‘universal currency’; Reverse: Boo je (left, right), meaning Zhejiang currency in Manchurian characters. Hartill # 22.1415; Hartill Qing # 26.92; KM Hsu# 151.2; 3.15 gm; 22.25 mm. The reverse Manchurian side appears in the NI Web site banner.