10 Cash - Guangxu 'SHANTUNG'

Shantung Province entered copper cash production later than many of its neighbors, establishing its mint only after the Qing central government began pushing provincial administrations to modernize coinage infrastructure in the early 1900s. The province's output was relatively brief and geographically limited in circulation, which accounts for the uneven survival rate across grades today.

Y#220 encompasses several die varieties distinguished by differences in the English romanization and spacing of "SHANTUNG" on the reverse legend — worth examining closely before cataloging.