Item number: A1904

Year: AD 1909

Material: Copper

Size: 33.0 x 33.0 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 11.15 g

Manufactured by: Central Mint, Tianjin

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This is a 20-Cash Great Qing Copper Coin minted in the first year of the Xuantong era (AD 1909) at the Tianjin Central Mint, which operated under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue.

The obverse side of the coin features a beaded circle at its centre, enclosing a five-clawed dragon surrounded by clouds, with a fireball emerging from its mouth. Beneath the dragon’s body, there is a decorative cloud motif. This version of the dragon is referred to by collectors as the “Chicken Claw Dragon” due to the distinctive shape of its claws. Other variations of this design include those with large wave and small wave patterns as additional decorations.

The outer rim of the coin bears Chinese characters at the top, indicating the year of minting: “Minted in Xuantong year” (宣統年造). The surrounding English inscription reads: “TAI-CHING-TI-KUO COPPER COIN”, denoting its official denomination as a Qing Dynasty copper coin.

The reverse side of the coin also features a beaded circle at its centre. Within this circle, the inscription “大清銅幣” (Great Qing Copper Coin) is arranged in top-bottom-right-left order. Outside the beaded circle, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches year “己酉” (corresponding to AD 1909) is inscribed on the left and right sides. The upper rim bears the Manchu script inscription for “Great Qing Copper Coin”, while the lower rim displays the coin’s denomination: “當制錢二十文” (“Equivalent to 20 Cash”).

物件編號: A1904

年代: 公元 1909 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 33.0 x 33.0 x 1.4 mm

重量: 11.15 g

製造地: 造幣總廠， 天津

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

這是一枚宣統元年 (公元1909年)，戶部管轄的天津造幣總廠鑄造之面額二十文的大清銅幣。

錢幣正面有一道珠圈，正中間是一條被雲朵包圍，口中吐著火球的五爪飛龍。龍的身子底下有一枚雲朵作為裝飾，該版本的龍在收藏界稱作「雞爪龍」。除了該版本之外，尚有以大水波和小水波裝飾等不同版型。錢幣外圍的上緣以漢字標示鑄造年份「宣統年造」，周圍則是以英文標示錢幣的名稱「TAI-CHING-TI-KUO COPPER COIN」(大清帝國銅幣)。

錢幣背面也有一道珠圈，正中央按上、下、右、左的順序打印「大清銅幣」。珠圈外圍的左右兩側打印干支年份「己酉」，上緣以滿文標示「大清銅幣」，下緣則是面額「當制錢二十文」。