Item number: A2945

Year: AD 1912-1918

Material: Tin

Size: 27.9 x 27.9 x 1.3 mm

Weight: 5.7 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a tin coin of ten cash minted during the Republican period, modelled after the ten-cash copper coin produced in Henan Province. The original copper version was mainly cast between AD 1912 and 1918, the first seven years of the Republic of China. Due to the nature of its material and production technique, the inscriptions on the tin coin are blurred.

The obverse features a central motif of two crossed flags, both being the Five-Coloured Flag of the Beiyang Government era, symbolising the “Five Races Under One Union”—Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui, and Tibetan. The flags are tied with a ribbon, from which tassells hang. Encircling the upper edge is the place of minting in English, “HO-NAN”, in Wade-Giles Romanisation for Henan; the lower edge reads “10 CASH”, indicating the denomination. Decorative vine motifs appear on both sides.

The reverse bears a vertically arranged inscription in standard script reading “Ten Cash”, flanked symmetrically by ears of grain—specifically “jiahe”, or auspicious grain—representing the ideals of securing abundant harvests for the people and promoting agriculture as the foundation of governance. The outer rim typically features a pearl circle composed of 78 dots. The upper arc reads “Republic of China”, while the lower arc states “Minted in Henan Province”, with a six-petal flower blooming on either side.

The mechanised minting of copper coins in Henan began in AD 1904, the 30th year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing dynasty, when Governor-General Chen Kuilong, responding to a currency shortage, petitioned the imperial court to establish a mint. Machinery was procured from the Ferracute Machine Company of Bridgeton, New Jersey, and trial minting of “Guangxu Yuanbao” ten-cash coins commenced in Kaifeng, modelled after Guangdong precedents. Full-scale production began the following year. After the founding of the Republic, the Henan Mint followed the Nanjing Provisional Government’s standards to mint coins such as the “Founding Commemorative Coin”. In AD 1914 (Republic Year 3), the mint was placed under the authority of the central Ministry of Finance, and production capacity was expanded to a daily output of 900,000 ten-cash coins.

Under the subsequent warlord era, military governors such as Zhao Ti, Feng Yuxiang, Han Fuju, and Liu Zhi successively assumed power in Henan. To finance military expenditures, they resorted to large-scale overminting, successively issuing higher-denomination copper coins of twenty, fifty, one hundred, and two hundred cash. Smaller denominations were frequently melted down to produce larger ones, and even religious statues were destroyed and recast, giving rise to so-called “Buddha-melted coins”. In AD 1933, due to the exhaustion of copper supplies, the Henan Mint was permanently closed. Years of over-issuance had caused a collapse in currency value—one silver dollar could exchange for up to 800 ten-cash coins—making Henan one of the most chaotic monetary regions in the country.

Following the founding of the Republic of China, the former Qing-era Henan militia unit known as the “Yi Army” was nominally subordinated to Provisional President Yuan Shikai. Its command was successively held by Anhui clique leader Duan Qirui, Yuan’s confidant Tian Wenlie, and eventually the emerging local power Zhao Ti. In AD 1922, Feng Yuxiang, then aligned with the Zhili clique, entered Henan and assumed control, implementing several military and administrative reforms. Although the Northern Expedition nominally unified China under the Nationalist Government in AD 1927, factional rule persisted in practise. In AD 1928, Han Fuju, a supporter of Feng Yuxiang, was appointed Chairman of the Henan Provincial Government, but in AD 1929 he defected to Chiang Kai-shek and joined the Central Army. Following the Central Plains War in AD 1930, Liu Zhi took over as provincial chairman, continuing the central government’s administrative and monetary control over Henan’s finances.

物件編號: A2945

年代: 公元 1912-1918 年

材質: 錫

尺寸: 27.9 x 27.9 x 1.3 mm

重量: 5.7 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚民國時期十文錫幣，以河南省造十文銅元為幣模，十文銅元主要鑄於民國元年至七年(公元1912-1918年)。

錫幣因材質及工藝所故，文字漫漶，正面中央為雙旗圖，左右均為北洋政府時期之國旗五色旗，象徵漢滿蒙回藏「五族共和」，旗以纓相繫，有纓穗垂下。上緣環列英文紀地「HO －NAN」，即威妥瑪拼音之「河南」；下緣環列英文紀值「10 CASH」，即(制錢)「十文」; 兩側有藤蔓花飾。

背面中央為楷體豎書「十文」，兩側以對生的麥穗——即嘉禾——環繞，寓意「取豐歲足民之義，垂勸農務本之規」，外環一般有78 點珠星組成的珠圈，上緣為「中華民國」，下緣為「河南省造」，左右各有一朵盛開的六圓瓣花。

河南機製銅元的鑄造始於清光緒三十年(公元1904年)，由巡撫陳夔龍因應錢荒向朝廷奏請設局鑄幣，自美國紐澤西的漢立克納浦廠(Ferracute Machine Company)購置機器，並於開封依廣東成例試鑄「光緒元寶」當十銅元，翌年正式投產。民國成立後，河南銅元局依據南京臨時政府規定鑄造「開國紀念幣」等式樣的民國銅元，民國三年(公元1914)年收歸中央財政部管轄，擴充產能，日產量高達九十萬枚。隨後在軍閥割據下，如趙倜、馮玉祥、韓復榘、劉峙等相繼掌權，為籌措軍費大規模濫鑄，先後推出當二十、五十、百文與二百文等大面額銅元，次次熔小錢以鑄大錢，甚至熔毀佛像鑄幣，衍生出「佛化錢」現象。公元1933年因原料枯竭，河南銅元局終告撤銷。長年過度發行導致幣值崩潰，一元銀元曾可兌換八百枚當十銅元，成為全國幣制最混亂地區之一。

中華民國成立後，原清末河南團練「毅軍」名義上歸於臨時大總統袁世凱領導，首長則先後由皖系段祺瑞、袁世凱心腹田文烈，以及於毅軍中嶄露頭角的地方實力人物趙倜相繼擔任。公元1922年，當時仍屬直系的馮玉祥進入河南，成為主導勢力，任內推行多項軍政改革。公元1927年北伐後，國民政府名義上實現統一，實際上仍以派系分治，馮玉祥支持的韓復榘於公元1928年任河南省政府主席，旋於公元1929年倒戈投向蔣介石，成為中央軍的一員。公元1930年中原大戰後劉峙接任河南省主席，延續中央派對地方的控制，並透過行政與貨幣政策維繫財政。