1 Tael - Guangxu Pattern, silver

Kirin Province's 1882 tael pattern sits at the very beginning of China's mechanized coinage experiment — struck before any provincial mint had fully committed to steam-powered production, when Qing officials were still debating whether Western minting technology was compatible with imperial monetary tradition. The Kirin patterns of this period were almost certainly produced as presentation or approval pieces rather than intended for circulation, submitted to Beijing for consideration as the dynasty fumbled toward a standardized provincial coinage system it would never quite achieve.

Kann's documentation of this piece as #914 places it within a small group of authenticated survivors. The 45.5mm diameter reflects the sheer bulk of the traditional tael standard, which resisted decimalization for another two decades.