7 Mace and Two Candareens - Xuantong

Kwangtung was among the most commercially active minting provinces in the late Qing period, and its silver output during the Xuantong reign reflects the accelerating institutional collapse of the dynasty itself. The provincial mint system had long operated with considerable autonomy from Beijing, a situation the Xuantong court — effectively controlled by the regent Zaifeng — attempted to rein in through centralization edicts that were largely ignored by Guangzhou.

The three-year window this coin spans ends with the Wuchang Uprising of October 1911, after which provincial mints rapidly repurposed dies and authority for Republican issues. Examples struck in 1911 saw almost no circulation before the political transition swallowed them.