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1/2 Miscal / 5 Fen Kuche, Obdan Gumush / Besh Fung, circle border
| Issuer | Sinkiang Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877-1878 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Miscal (0.05) |
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| Obverse description | Arabic legend occupying the entire field, struck in a characteristically crude hammered style with deeply incised but irregular characters. The inscription is enclosed within a plain circular border. The lettering, rendered in Eastern Turkic Arabic script, reads the Hijri date 1294 and the denomination indication 'obdan gumush' (fine silver), distributed across the flan in a somewhat disorganized arrangement typical of Sinkiang provincial coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ناك قو بش (Translation: besh fung 5 Fen) |
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| Additional information |
Sinkiang's provincial coinage of 1877–78 was a direct consequence of Zuo Zongtang's military reconquest of the region from Yaqub Beg's breakaway Yettishar state, which had controlled much of the Tarim Basin since 1865. The Qing restoration required functional currency immediately — before formal administrative structures were even in place. These small silver pieces were struck at Kuche (Kuqa) to pay troops and restore market confidence in Qing authority, using local minting practices that diverged markedly from official Board of Revenue standards in Beijing.
The bilingual Turki-Chinese inscriptions reflect the dual-audience necessity of governing a predominantly Turkic Muslim population alongside Han military and administrative settlers.