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10 Cash - Guangxu Pattern, white copper
| Issuer | Kiangsu Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1906 |
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| Composition | Copper (white) |
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| Obverse description | Central field features four large Chinese ideograms arranged vertically and read top to bottom, right to left, flanking Manchu script characters at centre. A circular outer legend in Chinese characters surrounds the entire design, with additional inscriptions denoting the province of issue, the reign title Guangxu, and the denomination. The legends collectively identify the coin as a Kiangsu Province issue of the Guangxu era, valued at ten cash, struck at the Boo-su mint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A sinuous five-clawed dragon in high relief occupies the central field, depicted in profile with its body coiled and a flaming pearl before it. Fine scale and flame details are rendered in the provincial Chinese milled style. The dragon is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with the English legend divided above and below in two arcs: 'KIANG-SOO' at top and 'TEN CASH' at bottom, separated by small ornamental stops. |
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| Additional information |
Kiangsu's 1906 pattern issues were produced as the Qing administration wrestled with standardizing provincial coinage — a problem that had plagued the dynasty since the southern mints began striking cash coins on foreign-influenced machinery in the 1890s. The Board of Revenue in Beijing was pushing hard to consolidate minting authority, and provincial pattern submissions of this period represent the last serious attempts by individual provinces to influence what a unified national coinage might look like.
White copper — baitong, an alloy with a long Chinese metallurgical history — was being evaluated as an alternative to the red copper flooding circulation. The experiment was largely abandoned within a few years as the dynasty itself collapsed.