5 Jiao - Xuantong

Issued in the final year of the Qing dynasty, this coin was struck as the empire was already collapsing around it. The Wuchang Uprising began in October 1911, and within months the Xuantong Emperor — the child Puyi — had abdicated. Most of this issue never saw meaningful circulation; the new Republic suspended imperial coinage almost immediately.

The .800 fineness was a deliberate reduction from earlier Qing silver standards, reflecting treasury pressures that had been building since the Boxer Indemnity payments of 1901.