Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Jiao / 1/2 Dollar - Xuantong
| Issuer | Hu Pu Bank (Board of Revenue Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central field bears four large Chinese ideograms arranged vertically in two columns, reading right to left and top to bottom. Above the central characters, a horizontal band of Manchu script occupies the upper portion of the coin, while additional Chinese ideograms appear below. Decorative floral rosettes flank the central inscription on either side, filling the field with elegant symmetrical ornamentation. The overall design is set within a beaded inner border with a plain outer rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script), Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Hu Pu Bank was established in 1905 as the Qing dynasty's first state-controlled bank, part of a broader reform effort under the New Policies program following the humiliations of the Boxer Indemnity. This 1910 issue came just a year before the Xinhai Revolution rendered the Xuantong emperor's government obsolete, meaning production runs were limited and many surviving coins saw little or no circulation before the dynasty collapsed entirely in 1912.
The .800 fineness was a deliberate compromise — below the .890 standard of contemporary Mexican dollars then dominating Chinese trade — a concession to production costs that drew criticism from foreign merchants skeptical of Qing monetary reform credibility.