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1 Yuan - Guangxu
| Issuer | Yunnan Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Central field bears large Chinese characters reading 'Guangxu Yuanbao' (光緒元寶), meaning 'Guangxu Original Currency,' arranged prominently in two vertical columns with smaller Manchu script characters flanking the central legends. A beaded inner circle frames the central inscriptions, with an outer legend around the periphery reading the provincial name 'Yunnan Province' (雲南省造) in Chinese and the denomination '庫平七錢二分' (7 Mace and 2 Candareens in Treasury Standard weight) along the lower arc. Four decorative rosette ornaments are evenly spaced within the inner field at the cardinal positions. The overall design follows the standard format of late Qing Dynasty provincial silver dollar coinage, combining Chinese and Manchu scripts in a formal, symmetrical layout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 造省南雲 光 ᠪᠠᡩᠠᡵᠠᠩᡤᠠ 寶 ᠶᡠᠸᠠᠨ ᠪᠣᠣ 元 ᡩᠣᡵᠣ 緒 分二錢七平庫 (Translation: Made in Yunnan Province Guangxu (Emperor) / Yuanbao (Original currency) Guangxu (Emperor) / Yuanbao (Original currency) Worth 7 Mace and 2 Candareens (weight)) |
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| Additional information |
Yunnan's silver dollar production was driven largely by the province's proximity to the Burma Road trade network and its long history of operating semi-autonomous minting facilities. The Yunnan mint had been striking machine-made coinage since the 1890s, but provincial authorities jealously guarded output quotas against Beijing's periodic attempts to centralize currency production under the Da Qing Bank reforms of 1905–1908. This piece dates to the final year those tensions were unresolved.
Yunnan dollars circulated heavily into French Indochina and upper Burma, where they competed directly with the Mexican peso and the French piastre.