1/2 Miscal / 5 Fen Kuche, Obdan Gumush / Besh Fung, circle border, with Zhong

Sinkiang's 1877–1878 silver issues were struck in the immediate aftermath of Zuo Zongtang's brutal reconquest of the region from Yaqub Beg's Kashgaria state, a campaign that ended a decade of de facto independence. The Qing court needed coinage fast — both to restore economic function and to assert administrative control — which is why these fractional pieces were produced at multiple local mints simultaneously, often with inconsistent die work. The "Zhong" character variant documented here places this piece within a specific mint identification system whose full attribution remains contested among specialists.