10 Cash - Guangxu Manchu at centre, with year

Kiangsu was among the first provinces authorized to operate a modern steam-powered mint, and the cash coins it produced in the early 1900s reflect the administrative chaos of that transition — multiple die varieties were produced in rapid succession as provincial officials adjusted legends, spacing, and the central Manchu inscription to satisfy directives from Beijing. The Y#162 series alone branches into at least a dozen catalogued varieties, several differing only in the arrangement of characters around the central field.

The 1902–1903 window corresponds to the post-Boxer Indemnity period, when Qing fiscal demands on provinces were acute and copper coinage output was deliberately accelerated to offset silver shortages.