The Dragon Coin

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

In the early twentieth century, the Qing dynasty was in full decline. In 1875, the dowager Empress Cixi placed on the throne a child of three who ruled nominally under the name of Guangxu but exercised no authority. Between 1899 and 1901 the Boxer Rebellion had exacerbated the xenophobia of the Chinese of that time.

In such conditions, the dragon coins (dollars, taels, maces, candareens), which usually show inscriptions in English on one side and on Chinese on the other side, seem anachronistic.

Heritage sells a tael on September 10 in Long Beach. On the side where the dragon is found, we read: "Pei Yang - 33rd Year of Kuang Hsu".

Pei Yang was the name of the mint in the province of Chih-li (Zhili) which in 1928 became Hebei, near Beijing. At the same time, similar bilingual coins were also produced in the province of Kiang Nan.

Kuang Hsu is the old spelling of Guangxu. The 33 rd year of his reign corresponds to 1907. The following year, Guangxu and Cixi died one after the other two days apart.

The tael for sale by Heritage is in mint condition with a beautiful gold and gray patina, and is estimated 80 K$. Cautiously, the auction house does not indicate the metal or alloy which had been used.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Heritage knows the market well, including for the rarest coins: it is no surprise! This Chinese coin was sold 92 K$ premium included, being then around the low estimate.