Item number: A3487

Year: AD 1924-1926

Material: Copper

Size: 31.0 x 31.0 x 1.6 mm

Weight: 10.35 g

Manufactured by: Koubei Mint

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a trial “Zhonghua Tongbi” (Chinese Copper Coin) issued in limited quantity in AD 1924 (Year 13 of the Republic of China) by the Bianmeng Branch Mint. Made of red copper with a face value of ten wen, the coin was produced as a pattern and was never officially circulated.

On the obverse, the coin bears the inscription “中華銅幣” (“Zhonghua Tongbi”) in regular script arranged in a cross format, read top to bottom and right to left. A fine beaded circle separates the centre from the surrounding legends. Along the upper perimeter is a Manchu transliteration of the Mongolian script: “ᡨ᠋ᠣᠮᡨ᠋ᡨ᠋ᠣ ᡝᠣᠯᠣᠠ ᡨ᠋ᡝ᠋ ᠵ᠊ᠶ᠊ᠰ ᠵᠣᠠᠠᠣ‍ᡝ᠋”, which translates as “Zhonghua Tongbi”. Along the lower perimeter is the English legend “THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA”. Each side of the central inscription is flanked by a five-pointed star.

The reverse features the denomination “十文” (“Ten Wen”) in regular script at the centre. Surrounding it is a stylised design of paired or clustered rice ears, known as “jiahe”. Since the Zhou dynasty, such naturally occurring multi-eared rice variants have been considered auspicious due to their rarity and implication of agricultural abundance. Consequently, the term “jiahe” (auspicious grain) was adopted. According to the edict of the Provisional Government in Nanjing in AD 1912, the design was chosen “to symbolise bountiful harvests and the provision of sustenance to the people, thereby encouraging agricultural productivity”. The base of the rice stalks is tied with a ribbon. The design style is similar to that found on the “Republic Commemorative Coins” produced by the Tianjin Mint. Around the outer upper perimeter is the inscription “民國十三年造” (“Struck in the 13th Year of the Republic of China”), also in regular script and read right to left.

The edges of both obverse and reverse are ringed and feature fine inward-pointing square denticles, referred to as “horse teeth”, which serve to protect the coin’s design and deter counterfeiting. The coin rim is smooth and unadorned.

In AD 1920 (Year 9 of the Republic), the Beiyang Government proposed establishing the Bianmeng Mint in Zhangjiakou and instructed Yan Shiqing, a former Qing official and then tax supervisor in Zhangjiakou, to raise capital, but the plan was unsuccessful. In AD 1923 (Year 12), Zhang Xiyuan, a warlord of the Zhili clique and then Governor of Chahar, reported that the Chahar Special District under his jurisdiction suffered from a severe shortage of copper coins and stagnant financial conditions. He proposed to revive the earlier unexecuted plan to establish the Bianmeng Mint in Zhangjiakou, which became known as the “Koubei Mint” (also referred to as the “Beikou Mint”). He also requested the transfer of minting machinery originally ordered from the Japanese firm Tōa Shōgyō Kaisha for the Shaanxi Mint in AD 1921 (Year 10). That order had been suspended due to anti-Japanese boycotts triggered by the May Fourth Movement. The machinery was instead received by the concurrently proposed Shandong Mint, which failed to establish operations due to financial constraints, leaving the equipment stranded at Qingdao Port.

Upon receiving the machinery, the Koubei Mint requested the Tianjin Mint to produce master dies for single copper coins (ten wen) and double copper coins (twenty wen). Minting commenced in AD 1924 (Year 13). Reportedly, between March and September of that year, the trial sale of copper coins yielded 283,472.45 yuan in revenue against a production cost of 804,512.789 yuan, indicating a significant deficit.

In the same year, during the Second Zhili-Fengtian War, the Fengtian-aligned warlord Feng Yuxiang betrayed the Zhili clique, leading to its collapse. By the end of the year, Feng had been appointed Commissioner for Northwest Border Defence, and Zhang Xiyuan resigned under pressure from the National Army (formerly the Northwest Army). General Zhang Zhijiang of the National Army then assumed the position of Chahar Governor and took over the mint. By AD 1927 (Year 16), a central government investigation reported the mint as heavily indebted and already defunct.

In AD 1902 (28th year of the Guangxu Emperor), Yuan Shikai, then Governor of Zhili and Beiyang Minister, commissioned Zhou Xuexi, Director of the Kaiping Mining Bureau, to establish the “Beiyang General Mint for Silver Dollars” at Xiyaowo in Tianjin. Though officially a silver mint, it primarily produced copper coins. In AD 1906, the Ministry of Revenue restructured the mint and renamed it the “Zhili Branch Mint of the Ministry of Revenue”. In AD 1907, following the reorganisation of the Ministry, it was again renamed the “Tianjin Mint of the Ministry of Revenue”. At the beginning of the Xuantong era (AD 1909), minting authority was centralised, and in AD 1910 the Beiyang Mint ceased coinage, leaving only the General Mint on Dajing Road in Tianjin operational. In AD 1912 (Year 1 of the Republic), Beiyang troops looted and destroyed the mint. Subsequently, a branch mint—known as the “Western Mint”—was established at the old Beiyang site in Xiyaowo to resume copper coin production, while a new “Eastern Mint” was built next to the original to strike silver coins. These were later consolidated as the “Tianjin General Mint of the Ministry of Finance”.

The “jiahe” coin motif was originally designed by Italian engraver Luigi Giorgi. Giorgi graduated from the School of Painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera) in Milan and gained recognition while working at the privately owned medal workshop Stabilimento SPa Stefano Johnson. In AD 1910 (Xuantong Year 2), he was appointed chief engraver at the Tianjin General Mint under the Ministry of Revenue and designed several notable coins, including the Great Qing Dragon Silver Dollar. After the Xinhai Revolution, he continued to serve under the Beiyang Government until AD 1919 (Year 8 of the Republic). He is best known for designing multiple Yuan Shikai portrait silver coins. He is sometimes confused with Evaristo Luigi Giorgi, a similarly named and contemporaneous chief engraver at the Rome Mint.

物件編號: A3487

年代: 公元 1924-1926 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 31.0 x 31.0 x 1.6 mm

重量: 10.35 g

製造地: 口北造幣廠

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚於民國十三年至十五年(公元1924-1926年)，由口北造幣廠所發行之「中華銅幣」，材質為紅銅，面額為雙枚，意即二十文。

銅元正面中央四方分鐫幣名「中華銅幣」楷書，由上至下，由右至左對讀​。以細珠圈相隔，外側上方環鐫滿文轉寫蒙文之「ᡨ᠋ᠣᠮᡨ᠋ᡨ᠋ᠣ ᡝᠣᠯᠣᠠ ᡨ᠋ᡝ᠋ ᠵ᠊ᠶ᠊ᠰ ᠵᠣᠠᠠᠣ‍ᡝ᠋」，應意為「中華銅幣」。下方環鐫「THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA」，即國號「中華民國」。左右側兩列幣文間各分飾一五角星。

銅元背面中央為「雙枚」楷書，紀值。周圍環繞嘉禾圖，稻穗對生成呈雙穗或多穗。自周代起，這種稻穗的自然突變便由於其稀有與增產的效果，被視為祥瑞，故稱「嘉禾」。按民國元年南京臨時政府令採用，「取豐歲足民之義，垂勸農務本之規」。下方稻穗交叉處以帶相繫。風格與天津造幣廠共和紀念幣等相似。外側上方環鐫「民國十三年造」，楷書紀年，由右至左順讀。

正背面幣緣均有環，並有細方齒向內，稱「馬齒」，作保護幣圖及防偽之用。幣稜光平無紋。

民國九年(公元1918年)，北洋政府於張家口議設邊蒙造幣廠，令前清西南路道台，張家口稅務監督顏世清籌集資本，未果。民國十二年(公元1923年)，時任察哈爾都統的直系將領張錫元，稱所轄察哈爾特別區，「銅幣缺乏，金融停滯」，請照議設邊蒙造幣廠未成之舊案，於張家口復設造幣廠，是為「口北造幣廠」(亦有稱「北口造幣廠」者)。並提請轉移原陝西造幣廠設立時，於民國十年(公元1912年)，向日商東亞興業會社所訂之機件。當時因五四運動造成的排日風潮而未能履行全部合同，轉由同時議設的山東造幣廠接收，山東造幣廠因財務問題也未能設廠，機械因而留滯青島港口。口北造幣廠接收機件後，提請天津造幣廠頒造單銅元(即十文)、雙銅元(即二十文)之祖模。次年(公元1924年)開鑄，據稱該年三月至九月試售銅元得283,472.45元，成本804,512.789，入不敷出，可見一班。同年，第二次直奉戰爭中，原屬直系的軍閥馮玉祥倒戈奉系，直系遭重創，一蹶不振。年底馮玉祥任西北邊防督辦，張錫元在國民軍(前西北軍)進逼下請辭。由國民軍將領張之江領察哈爾都統，也同時接管了造幣廠。民國十六年(公元1927年)中央調查時稱負債累累，已經停辦。

光緒二十八年(公元1902年)，袁世凱任直隸總督兼北洋大臣，任直隸開平礦物局總辦周學熙，於天津西窯漥建「北洋鑄造銀元總局」。名為銀元局，實則造銅元為多。光緒三十二年(公元1906年)，戶部裁併鑄幣廠，更名「直隸戶部造幣北分廠」。光緒三十三年(公元1907年)，戶部改制度支部，是故造幣廠更名為「度支部造幣津廠」。宣統初年(公元1909年)，鑄幣權收歸中央，宣統二年(公元1910年)，北洋銀元局停鑄，天津僅存大經路之「度支部造幣總廠」。民國元年，北洋亂兵襲擊造幣總廠，廠房被毀。於是於西窯漥北洋銀元局舊址建「分廠」開鑄銅元，稱「西廠」，於總廠舊址旁另起「新廠」開鑄銀元，稱「東廠」。併為「財政部天津造幣總廠」。

嘉禾幣圖原為義大利籍雕模師魯喬奇(Luigi Giorgi)所設計。喬奇畢業於米蘭的布雷拉美術學院繪畫學校(Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera)，於私人經營的斯蒂法諾·約翰遜獎章工廠(Stabilimento SPa Stefano Johnson)的獎章設計工作中嶄露頭角。後於宣統二年(公元1910年)起受聘於天津戶部造幣總廠，並擔任首席雕刻師，設計有大清龍圖銀幣等。辛亥革命後為北洋政府續聘，任職至民國八年(公元1919年)。以設計有多枚袁像銀元著名。常與同名、年代相近，曾於羅馬鑄幣廠任首席雕刻師的埃瓦里斯托·路易吉·喬治(Evaristo Luigi Giorgi)相混淆。