At a time when small change was sparse, several mints,
including the central mint at Tientsin, were tasked with preparing a new copper
coinage to alleviate the coin shortage.
One such example is this week’s highlight from the Q. David Bowers/R.B.
White collection of Chinese Copper coins. Lot # 40279 offers an extremely rare
pattern Wen struck at the Tientsin mint around 1903, one of only about four
known examples. It features a simplistic
design struck in the style of the old monetary system, with the characters in
relief surrounding a central square with a round hole, all within a wide rim
border.
The obverse inscription reads from top to bottom and
right to left as “光緒通寶” (Guāngxù
tōng bǎo [Guangxu era]) while the reverse inscription reads from top to bottom
and right to left as “銅幣一文” (tóngbì
yīwén[Copper coin equal to one Wen{Cash}]).
The shortage
of copper coins affected many in the country and though the manufacture of
these patterns was far superior to their cast predecessors, they were rejected
because they followed the old system.
The Q. David Bowers/R.B. White Collection of Chinese
Copper Coins is presented in a stand-alone catalog for our April 2-4, 2018,
Hong Kong auction. All lots in this collection, as well as the rest of our
April 2018 Hong Kong auction, can be viewed at StacksBowers.com.
We are no longer
accepting consignments for our April 2018 Hong Kong auction. We are however
taking consignments of world and ancient coins and world paper money for our
May Collectors Choice Online (CCO), our August 2018 Hong Kong, August 2018
American Numismatic Association (ANA), October 2018 Collectors Choice Online
(CCO) and our 2019 New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC)
auctions. If you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency
(whether a whole collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our
consignment directors.
