20 Cash - Xuantong Ministry of Revenue, Manchu: Guangxu

The Xuantong era lasted less than three years before the 1911 revolution ended the Qing dynasty entirely, but coins struck under that reign name began appearing before the emperor himself was formally enthroned — the Ministry of Revenue mint in Beijing continued production runs already in progress, simply updating the reign title from Guangxu. This particular piece carries Manchu script identifying the issuing board, a bureaucratic distinction that separates Ministry of Revenue issues from the provincial coinages flooding the market at the same moment.

By 1909, the cash coin system was already collapsing under the weight of uncontrolled provincial overproduction.