Item number: A3438

Year: AD 1905

Material: Copper

Size: 31.5 x 31.5 mm

Manufactured by: Central Mint, Tianjin

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. W.K. Burger Collection

This is a 20-Cash Great Qing Copper Coin minted in the 31st year of the Guangxu era (AD 1905) 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.

In this version, the dragon’s right-side body runs parallel to the base of the flame, which is why collectors refer to it as the “Horizontal dragon” (平身龍). In addition to this type, there are two other known varieties: the “Revenue dragon” (戶部龍) and the “Big-eyed dragon” (大眼龍).

The outer rim of the coin bears Chinese characters at the top, indicating the year of minting: “Minted in Guangxu year” (光緒年造). 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 “乙巳” (corresponding to AD 1905) 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: A3438

年代: 公元 1905 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 31.5 x 31.5 mm

製造地: 造幣總廠， 天津

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

這是一枚光緒31年 (公元1905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。這個版本的龍右側軀幹和火焰的根部平行，故在收藏界被稱作「平身龍」。除了這個版本之外，尚有「部頒龍」和「大眼龍」兩種版型。

錢幣外圍的上緣以漢字標示鑄造年份「光緒年造」，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「乙巳，上緣以滿文標示「大清銅幣」，下緣則是面額「當制錢二十文」。