The story of two Xuantong ingots
The coin industry appreciates and appraises rare metal coinage, which is always based on the four characters of 'name, rareness, code, and beauty'. The outstanding ones among small silver dollars or small silver ingots are called 'diamonds' by experts who are perfect in appearance and gleaming. There are only two yin 'ji' and yang 'ji' kuping coins in four quarters. The coin circle appreciates and evaluates rare metal coins, which are known as the four characters of 'name, rareness, code, and beauty'. For the best of the small silver dollar or small silver ingot, the connoisseurs who are perfect in appearance and glittering are called 'diamonds'. There are only two yin'ji' and yang'ji' Kuping, four cents and four cents Xuantong ingot (small silver coin), which meets the standard of'four', and is worthy of the reputation of'diamond'. It's really a gem among our country's small silver coins. There is a little-known story about the appearance and remains of these two Xuantong ingots. It turned out that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, its feudal rule was in turmoil, the centralization of power was gradually disintegrating, and the feudal separatism of the provinces was increasing day by day. In order to control the financial lifelines of the provinces, the Qing government announced in the second year of Xuantong (1910) that all the silver and copper mints set up in all provinces would be reduced. With a vast area, only one factory for casting silver and copper coins could not meet the needs of the national financial industry, so branch factories were set up in Hankou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Yunnan and Fengtian. Later, the Fengtian Mint Branch received the task of designing and casting two kinds of Kuping, a quarter and a quarter of Xuantong Yuanbao. The factory designed and cast two types of Xuantong ingots with the yin'ji' character and the yang'ji' character in the center of the coin. Among them, the small silver coin with the Chinese character 'Ji' (see picture) has the four characters 'Xuantong Yuanbao' on the front, the Chinese character 'Ji' in the middle, the word 'Minting Branch' on the upper part, and the word 'Kuping One Coin Four Quarter Four Percent' on the lower part. 'The words; the back is the beauy's pattern, the dragon's tail is to the right. A small silver coin with the character “Gee” on the front has the same pattern on the front as the coin with the character “Gee” in the middle, except that the character “Gee” in the middle is in Yang, and the pattern on the back is also the same as the coin with the character “Gee” on the back, except that the dragon tail is facing to the left. The outer circle of the dragon pattern on the back of the two coins is the same, with the Chinese characters 'made in the first year of Xuantong These two yin and yang Xuantong ingots with the word 'ji' were sent to the superiors for selection. As a result, the Yang coin with the word 'ji' was selected and minted in large quantities, exclusively for circulation in Jilin Province. Numismatics call it the last silver coin in Jilin. The Yin'Ji' coin, although beautifully cast, was not photographed by the superior, so only a few samples were cast, and only two were handed down. Things are precious. These two coins turned out to be gems in the currency world. The earliest collectors of these two coins were Qin Ziwei and the Jewish Geng Aide (e?kann). They were exhibited jointly at the China Quanbi Society and caused a sensation. In 1944, Geng Aide published in Chinese and English publications soliciting the third yin and yang'ji' character Xuantong Yuanbao. If there is a third coin collector, he only needs to inform and verify, and he will receive a prize of 300 US dollars (equivalent to 8.5 taels). Gold price). But no one answered until Gunn left Shanghai in 1949. To this day, one of the Yin'Gee' small silver dollar originally collected by Geng has been collected by the Hongxi Art Museum in Taipei and has become its collection; the other Yin'Gee' silver dollar is still in Shanghai, which was owned by the author. Collected by a friend of the council member of the Municipal Numismatic Society. The author earnestly hopes that collectors from Shanghai and Taiwan can display the two Yin'Auspicious' Xuantong ingots in Shanghai and Taiwan respectively, so as to satisfy the eyes of coin lovers in the two places, it is really lucky! Previous: The key to the identification of gold and silver products Next: The history of human wearing silver jewelry
