Item number: A1974

Year: AD 1928

Material: Copper

Size: 24.5 x 24.5 x 1.1 mm

Weight: 5.1 g

Manufactured by: Dodé Mint, Lhasa

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2015

This is a one-sho copper coin minted in AD 1928, the 2nd year of the 16th Rabjung cycle in the Tibetan calendar, during the period of de facto independence under the Tibetan government, at the Dodé (also transliterated as Dog Bde) mint. The term “Xuekang” (alternatively rendered as “Xuegang”) is the Chinese phonetic transcription of the Tibetan “ཞོ་ གར་” (zho gar). Xuekang copper coins were minted between AD 1918 and 1938 by multiple mints, resulting in several varieties. There are four principal types: the first features a horizontal inscription of the denomination with a lion turning its head backward and a butterfly-shaped floral ornament without a central dot; the second also bears a horizontal inscription, with the lion gazing upwards and the floral ornament containing a central dot; the third presents a vertical inscription of the denomination; and the fourth is a redesigned version with an entirely different motif from the previous three. This copper coin belongs to the second version and was minted between AD 1920 and AD 1928.

Both obverse and reverse sides of the coin are encircled by a ring of raised dots, serving as a border decoration. The centre of the obverse depicts a recumbent snow lion, its body facing left in profile, while the head is turned back and raised, gazing toward the sun obscured by clouds. The snow lion, originally a fierce demon in Tibetan mythology said to spread plagues, later came to symbolise authority and protection in Tibetan culture. Surrounding the lion are eight lotus petals, each bearing one syllable of the inscription: “དགའ་ ལྡན་ ཕོ་ བྲང་ ཕྱོད་ ལས་ རྣམ་ རྒྱལ་” (dga’ ldan pho brang phyod las rnam rgyal), which may be rendered as “Ganden Phodrang, Victorious in All Directions.” Ganden Phodrang refers to the former residence of successive Dalai Lamas at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa prior to their enthronement, and symbolises the political authority held by the Dalai Lama.

The reverse bears a horizontally arranged denomination “ཞོ གར” (zho gar), where “ཞོ་” (zho) denotes “sho” (1/10 of a Tibetan liang of silver), and “གར་” (gar) means “one,” together signifying “one sho.” This central inscription is enclosed by a ring and beaded circle, further surrounded by the Tibetan inscription “རབ བྱུང ༡༦ ལོ ༢” (rab byung 16 lo 2), meaning “the 2nd year of the 16th Rabjung,” corresponding to AD 1928. The floral ornaments between the syllables are butterfly-shaped and contain central dots.

The Mekyi mint was established in AD 1917, though its exact location remains uncertain, possibly situated southwest of Lhasa or in the Shannan region. The Mekyi mint continued to produce Xuekang and other copper coins until AD 1928. The Xuekang shared the same weight as the older Ga Gang copper coins, which had a denomination of 0.25 sho (2.5 fen of Tibetan silver), meaning that the newly minted Xuekang coins were significantly reduced in weight relative to their stated denomination.

In AD 1918, the Nor Stod (also known as Ser-Khang) gold mint was established; however, due to rising gold prices, the mint incurred losses and ceased gold coin production after only three years. Following the suspension of gold minting in AD 1921, the Nor Stod mint commenced the production of Xuekang copper coins, which continued until AD 1928. In AD 1920, the Dog Bde (also transliterated as Dodé) mint was founded and likewise engaged in the minting of Xuekang copper coins. In AD 1922, the Mekyi mint revised its coin dies, altering the inscription of the denomination “Xuekang” from horizontal to vertical orientation.

In AD 1931, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama established the Tashi Electric Plant, consolidating equipment from the Nor Stod, Dodé, and Mekyi mints to initiate mechanised coin production using electric power. In AD 1932, amid widespread counterfeiting in Tibetan regions, the Dalai Lama authorised a new issue of Xuekang coins, featuring a redesigned motif. These coins retained the same size, weight, and composition as earlier issues but were more finely produced owing to electric minting techniques. In AD 1950, during the Battle of Chamdo, the Tibetan army was defeated and the People’s Liberation Army entered Tibet. By AD 1959, the Renminbi had become the official currency in the region, and the circulation of old Tibetan coinage was officially prohibited.

物件編號: A1974

年代: 公元 1928 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 24.5 x 24.5 x 1.1 mm

重量: 5.1 g

製造地: 奪底鑄幣廠，拉薩

來源: 大城郵幣社 2015

這是一枚於藏曆第16繞迥的2年 (公元1928年)，實質獨立的西藏政府於奪底/多帶(Dodé / Dog Bde Mint)鑄幣廠鑄造的一錢銅幣。「雪康」或譯「雪岡」，為藏語「ཞོ་ གར་」(zho gar)之音譯。雪康銅幣的鑄造時間為公元1918至1938年，由多個鑄幣廠鑄造，版別多有不同。主要有四種板別，第一種為面額橫寫、獅首後望，蝶狀花飾無圓點；第二種為面額橫寫，獅首上仰，花飾中有點；第三種為面額豎寫；第四種為幣圖與前三者皆不同的新版雪康。此銅幣為第二種，鑄行於公元1920至1928年。

銅幣的正反兩面皆以一道浮星星點為圈，與邊輪作為裝飾。正面中央為趴臥的雪獅，軀體左向側視，頭部回首並上仰，看向雲霧繚繞的太陽。雪獅原為西藏神話傳說中的一種厲妖，即傳播疾疫的兇神，後成為西藏權力與護佑的象徵。，周圍的八個花瓣分別為藏文「དགའ་ ལྡན་ ཕོ་ བྲང་ ཕྱོད་ ལས་ རྣམ་ རྒྱལ་」(dga’ ldan pho brang phyo(d) las rnam rgyal)，意思是「噶單頗章諸方全勝」。「噶單頗章」是歷代達賴親政前於拉薩哲蚌寺的居所，亦是代表達賴擁有的權力。

錢幣背面中央為面額「ཞོ གར」，橫寫。上方「ཞོ་」(zho)為錢，十錢為藏銀一兩。下方「གར་」(gar)為一，合則「一錢」。以圓環和珠圈相隔，外圍環繞著以蝶狀花飾倆倆分隔的藏文「རབ བྱུང ༡༦ ལོ ༢」(rab byung chu(10) drug(6) lo gnyis(2))則是鑄行的藏曆年份，即第16繞迥的2年，換算為公元1928年。蝶狀花飾中有圓點。

公元1917年，梅吉鑄幣廠設立，地點不明，可能位於拉薩西南或山南地區。梅吉鑄幣廠新鑄「雪康」與其他銅幣，直至公元1928年。「雪康」重量與舊銅幣「卡岡」(ga gang)同，但「卡岡」幣值為藏銀二分五厘，為「雪康」的四分之一，亦即這種新鑄的「雪康」銅幣本應有的重量大大削減了。

公元1918年，羅堆/諾兌(Nor Stod/Ser-Khang)金幣廠設立，但金幣由於金價上漲而虧損，鑄造三年旋即停鑄。公元1921年停鑄後，羅堆金幣廠也開始鑄造「雪康」銅幣，直至公元1928年。公元1920年，奪底/多帶(Dodé / Dog Bde Mint)鑄幣廠設立，同樣有鑄造「雪康」銅幣。公元1922年，梅吉鑄幣廠更換幣模，將面額「雪康」由橫書改為直書。

公元1931年，達賴十三世設扎西電機廠，集合羅堆、奪底、梅吉，三個鑄幣場所的機具，以電力鑄造機製幣。公元1932年，由於藏區偽幣盛行，達賴準鑄新「雪康」，設計新幣圖，大小、重量與質地皆與舊幣同，因為電機鑄造，故較精緻。公元1950年，昌都戰役中，藏軍被擊潰，解放軍入藏。公元1959年，藏區開始通行人民幣，舊藏幣禁止流通。