10 Cash - Guangxu Brass

Szechuan's brass 10 cash pieces from this period emerged from the province's effort to operate its own modern steam-powered mint at Chengdu, established in the early 1900s as part of the Qing dynasty's broader push to mechanize provincial coinage. Szechuan was geographically isolated enough that its mint operated with considerable autonomy, producing a bewildering range of die varieties — the Y#229 series alone spans multiple numbered sub-types reflecting punch and die substitutions made without central authorization from the Board of Revenue in Beijing.

Brass rather than the more common copper alloy appears to have resulted from inconsistent raw material sourcing at Chengdu.