Catalog
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| Issuer | Chihli Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Yuan (1896-1940) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese, Mongolian / Manchu |
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| Reverse description | A finely rendered five-clawed imperial dragon occupies the central field, depicted in high relief in dynamic profile with scales, whiskers, and flaming appendages fully detailed, clutching a flaming pearl at centre. The dragon is shown amid stylised clouds and waves rendered in low relief. A circular English legend surrounds the design along the upper and lower periphery, separated by small dot stops, identifying the regnal year, reign title, and mint name. The coin exhibits the characteristic reeded border of Pei Yang Arsenal issues. |
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| Additional information |
Pei Yang — "Northern Ocean" — was the administrative machinery through which Li Hongzhang and his successors modernized China's coastal defenses, and its arsenal at Tianjin operated the mint that struck this issue. The 1899 date places production squarely under Yuan Shikai, who had taken control of Chihli Province following Li's death and was simultaneously building the New Army that would eventually bring down the Qing dynasty itself.
The Pei Yang silver series is notorious for die inconsistencies across years, and the 1899 emission is no exception — multiple reverse die variations are documented in the Y#72 type.