The Pei Yang Arsenal mint at Tianjin was producing machine-struck silver tael coinage in the late 1890s, and mule strikes — coins paired from dies belonging to different denominations or series — occasionally escaped quality control during this period of rapid mechanization. A copper mule from this operation is almost certainly an inadvertent product of die mismatching rather than any sanctioned issue, which explains why no consistent type population exists in the major reference works.
The Pei Yang Arsenal mint at Tianjin was producing machine-struck silver tael coinage in the late 1890s, and mule strikes — coins paired from dies belonging to different denominations or series — occasionally escaped quality control during this period of rapid mechanization. A copper mule from this operation is almost certainly an inadvertent product of die mismatching rather than any sanctioned issue, which explains why no consistent type population exists in the major reference works.