Item number: A3742

Reference number: Kann#1229、Y#33.1、LM#807

Year: AD 1907 (AH 1325)

Material: Silver

Size: 22.3 x 22.3 mm

Manufactured by: Kashgar Mint

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2025

This is a silver two-mace coin struck by the Silver Coin Mint (yinyuanju) at Dihua, the provincial capital of Xinjiang.

The obverse bears the vertical inscription “Guangxu yin yuan” in Chinese characters, with “Dihua” indicating the place or mint to the right, and “er qian” (two mace) indicating the denomination to the left, the numeral “two” being written in its formal form, er (貳).

The reverse carries an inscription in old Uyghur (also called Chaghatay), read from bottom to top and from right to left. At the lowest position appears ضرب (zarb), meaning “struck at …”. The two lines above it, likewise read upwards, give اورمچى (Ürümqi), the historical name for Dihua. At the upper left stands ىكى (ikki), “two”, and at the upper right مىشقال (mishkal), “mishkal”. In the gap above the inscription appears ۱۳۲۵, corresponding to AH 1325 (AD 1907). The inscription is framed by floral tendrils.

Both obverse and reverse have a beaded rim with fine, irregular denticles.

The cultural sphere of northern Xinjiang has long formed part of the wider Central Asian world. As early as the eleventh century, the Qarakhanid dynasty, which ruled much of present-day Xinjiang, minted its own silver coinage closely linked to the monetary systems of Central Asia. In southern Xinjiang, small transactions were traditionally conducted with red-copper pul coins, while larger settlements relied on silver ingots or plates. Conventionally, fifty pul equalled one tänggä, and one tänggä approximated one tael of silver. After the Qianlong Emperor’s pacification of Xinjiang, the Qing government sought to integrate the region into the empire’s unified currency framework by withdrawing the old pul and recasting cash coins of the Qianlong tongbao type at Yarkand, Uqturpan and Aksu. Nevertheless, the local terms pul and the associated weight system were retained, so that Xinjiang nominally conformed to metropolitan standards yet in practice preserved indigenous usage. These copper issues thus came to be known as “red cash”.

During the Tongzhi reign, the forces of Ya‘qub Beg of the Khanate of Khoqand occupied southern Xinjiang and founded the so-called Yettishar or “State of Seven Cities” at Kashgar. Between AD 1865 and 1875, local minting was temporarily interrupted. Following the reconquest led by Zuo Zongtang and the provincial forces in AD 1876, Zuo was appointed to supervise military affairs in Xinjiang. Before the entire region was recovered, he had already ordered the trial striking of silver coins at Lanzhou in Gansu under the name of “Xinjiang”. After the reconquest, he prohibited the continued circulation of Ya‘qub Beg’s tänggä issues, allowing them to fall out of use through market discount in order to lessen monetary disruption. Subsequently, Aksu recommenced the casting of square-holed copper cash in the Qianlong style and produced silver xiangping and xiangyin coins, thereby reintegrating Xinjiang into the Qing monetary system.

Kashgar, Aksu and Korla had, during Ya‘qub Beg’s period, received Russian assistance in establishing arsenals to produce firearms. In the late Qing, a machine workshop was founded at Ürümqi, powered by water, to repair weaponry and also to cast copper coins. Yet these developments did not immediately improve the minting technology of southern Xinjiang, where silver coins continued to be produced by hand-operated tools and traditional methods well into the late nineteenth century. The workmanship was crude, moulds were of poor quality, and dies required frequent replacement, resulting in numerous varieties. The paucity of contemporary documentation further complicates the study of Xinjiang’s silver coinage.

In AD 1892 (Guangxu 18), Uyghur merchants reported that the tänggä silver coins circulating from the period of Ya‘qub Beg’s occupation—small five-fen pieces—were debased and difficult to distinguish, exposing users to fraud. They petitioned for official coinage. Li Zongbin, then daoyuan of Kashgar, accordingly instructed the acting county magistrate Luo Zhengxiang to strike trial silver coins, which met with acceptance and approval in the market. However, the technology employed remained traditional, using hand tools; the reverse continued to display Islamic-style Uyghur calligraphy and floral ornament, and the weight standard remained the xiangping tael, differing from the Kuping tael used for the “dragon dollars” of the inner provinces.

Around AD 1889 (Guangxu 15), machine-struck silver coins had already been attempted. The provincial governor Wei Guangtao identified skilled artisans in Kucha capable of producing machinery and dies, and ordered them to imitate the silver coins current in the southeastern provinces, striking pieces of various denominations. The enterprise was discontinued when expenditures exceeded income, but it nonetheless marked the beginning of mechanised silver-coin production in Xinjiang. In AD 1903 (Guangxu 29), in order to regularise the currency system and unify exchange rates, Governor Pan Xiaosu received imperial approval to establish a silver-coin mint at Dihua. The regulations adopted largely followed those of Kashgar and Aksu. Xiangping silver served as the standard, with a fixed quantity of silver coin produced from each 100 taels after deducting the authorised wastage, the residue being used as artisans’ allowances. In AD 1907 (Guangxu 33), the provincial treasurer Wang Shuyan successfully petitioned for the silver coins to circulate at parity with xiangping silver. Thereafter, commercial taxes, official stipends and popular levies could all be paid in silver coin; exchanges at the provincial money office were made with paper money or red cash according to regulation, and separate rates were set for converting silver coin into sycee. The Dihua Mint struck about 600 taels of xiangping silver per day, or roughly 18,000 taels per month. After deducting wages, charcoal and the cost of replacing tools and equipment, a small surplus remained, though shortfalls still had to be met from grain reserves.

物件編號: A3742

參考書目編號: Kann#1229、Y#33.1、LM#807

年代: 公元 1907 年 (回曆 1325 年)

材質: 銀

尺寸: 22.3 x 22.3 mm

製造地: 迪化銀圓局

來源: 福君錢幣 2025

這是一枚由新疆省省會迪化府的銀圓局所造的光緒銀圓，面額二錢。

銀幣正面為豎文漢字「光緒銀圓」，右側「迪化」紀地或紀局，左側「貳錢」紀值，「二」寫為大寫｢貳｣。

背面中央幣銘為老維吾爾文(或稱察合台文)，自下而上，自右而左依序讀，最下方為「ضرب 」(zarb)，即「鑄於…」，其上方兩行，由下至上為「اورمچى」(Ürümqi)，即「烏魯木齊」，舊稱「迪化」。左上方為「ىكى」(ikki)，即「二」，右上方為「مىشقال」(mishkal)上方幣銘間隙有「۱۳۲۵」，即回曆1325年，約公元1907年。幣銘四周花葉纏繞。

錢幣正背面幣緣均有邊環及細齒，粗細不均。

新疆北疆地區文化長期以來與中亞地區為同一體系。早在十一世紀前後，新疆境內的喀喇汗王朝便已鑄造銀幣，其貨幣制度與中亞一帶保持密切連結。南疆地區長期使用以紅銅鑄成的普爾(pul)作為小額交易媒介，而重量較大的結算則依賴銀錠或銀片。傳統上，五十枚普爾折一天罡(tänggä)，而一天罡約值銀一兩。乾隆平定新疆後，為使新疆逐步融入帝國統一的錢幣架構，官方收毀舊制普爾，在葉爾羌與烏什、阿克蘇等地重新鼓鑄乾隆通寶方孔銅錢，但仍沿用了普爾之名與本地重量單位，使新疆在名義上遵從內地制度，在實際使用上則保留地方慣例，成為別具特色的「紅錢」。

同治年間，浩罕汗國阿古柏部入據南疆，在喀什噶爾建立「哲德沙爾汗國」或稱「洪福汗國」。於是於公元1865至1875年間，當地鑄幣一度中斷。後由左宗棠率湘軍等團練，於公元1876年平定。光緒初年，左宗棠奉命督辦新疆軍務。未及完全收復全境之前，他已在甘肅蘭州以「新疆」名義試鑄銀幣。收復後，他又嚴令禁止阿古柏時期的天罡銀幣繼續使用，讓其在市場運作中自然折價退出，以減少幣制震盪。隨後，阿克蘇依乾隆制錢形式重鑄方孔銅錢，並製造湘平與餉銀等銀質貨幣，使新疆逐步重新回到清帝國的通用貨幣體系裡。

喀什、阿克蘇與庫爾勒在阿古柏時期曾由俄國援助，設兵工廠試造火器，清末在烏魯木齊成立機器局，用水力推動機械修理槍炮並兼鑄銅錢，但這些進展未能立即改善南疆銀幣的鑄造技術。直到十九世紀末，新疆地方銀幣仍以手工機具與土法打製為主，鑄造粗糙、模具材質不佳，導致版模需要頻繁更新，造成大量版式差異。加以文獻記載極少，使研究新疆銀幣的難度遠高於內地各省。

光緒十八年(公元1892年)，地方的維吾爾商人反映，市面流通的阿古柏佔領時期「天罡銀幣」(五分小銀幣)，成分混雜和不易識別容易上當，呈請政府鑄造銀圓。因此時任喀什道員的李宗賓命令候補知縣羅正湘試鑄銀圓，發行後得到市場的接受和好評。但技術上繼續沿用傳統手工工具，背面仍採伊斯蘭風格的維文書法與花飾，重量單位仍採湘平，與採用庫平兩制的內地龍洋不同。

光緒十五年(公元1889)前後已有以機器試鑄銀圓之舉，其時行省巡撫魏光燾調查庫車匠人中有技藝精良者，能製造機械與模具，遂命其試仿東南洋銀，分鑄各式，雖因入不敷出而終止，為新疆後來推行機器銀圓之先聲。至光緒二十九年(公元1903)，為整飭銀錢制度、統一折算，巡撫潘效蘇乃奉旨於迪化設立鑄銀圓局，所採章程多承襲喀什與阿克蘇舊制，按湘平銀為本位，每百兩扣除火耗後鑄成定額銀圓，餘銀以充匠工津貼。光緒三十三年(公元1907年)藩司王樹枬詳請核准銀圓與湘平銀等值通行，自此商稅、官餉與民間賦役皆可用銀圓完納；若至官錢局折換，則按例發給錢票或紅錢，並另定以銀圓換紋銀之折色。迪化局每日以湘平銀六百兩為度，月鑄約萬八千兩，扣除薪給、木炭及器物添補等費後，雖稍有盈餘，然仍須以餘糧補貼其不足。