Group of Seven Late Qing Sichuan Provincial Guangxu Emperor Tibetan Trade Silver Coins, Guangxu Reign Late Qing Dynasty, Late 19th Century Machine-Struck Silver Currency for Tibetan Regions

拍品描述

Dimensions: 2.4 cm (0.94 inches) in diameter, 38 grams in weight. A complete set of late 19th-century Sichuan official silver coins. Condition and Provenance: This set of seven Sichuan silver coins comes from the same original collection, containing no counterfeits or later substitutes. Each coin is cast from thick, dense silver, with a naturally formed patina, exhibiting a soft, mottled color gradient, untreated by acid washing, chemical cleaning, or artificial patina imitation. The obverse features a left-side portrait of the Guangxu Emperor, wearing a traditional Qing dynasty winter hat; the casting is clear, and the lines of the braid, collar, and surrounding scrollwork are complete and sharp. The reverse is decorated with exquisite, meandering floral patterns surrounding the four central characters "Sichuan Province Minted"; the patterns are clear, and the characters show no obvious wear. Circulation wear is even and slight, with no deep indentations, large scratches, deformation, or bending. The outer beaded rim is intact, with no missing beads, rolled edges, or repair marks; the coin surface is flat, without any corrosion pits. This set of coins was initially consigned for sale by a long-established coin company in Vancouver and entered the hands of a private collector in Georgia, USA, specializing in Chinese machine-struck coins, in 2025. New York, California, and Toronto are major trading centers for Chinese silver coins from the late Qing and Republican periods globally. Description: This complete set comprises seven late Qing Dynasty Sichuan Tibetan silver coins, which were used by the official Sichuan Provincial Mint for trade between Sichuan and Tibet (the Tibetan region of Sichuan). Such a complete set of seven is extremely rare on the global market and is therefore highly sought after by American collectors specializing in East Asian historical coins. The obverse features a left-side portrait of Emperor Guangxu, dressed in traditional Qing Dynasty court attire, wearing a classic Qing Dynasty melon-shaped winter hat with a long braid hanging down the back, and a continuous interwoven auspicious scroll pattern adorning his neck. The figure is finely and realistically sculpted with distinct layers. The reverse is decorated with intricate vine patterns, with the four characters "Sichuan Provincial Mint" in the center; the lush floral patterns blend the decorative aesthetics of both Han and Tibetan cultures. Each silver coin was minted by the Sichuan Provincial Mint using Western industrial coin-pressing machines under heavy pressure, creating a distinct three-dimensional effect between the design and the background. Its silver alloy composition fully complies with the official standards for currency in the border regions during the late Qing Dynasty. Tibetan trade silver coins were the main medium of circulation in the ancient Sichuan-Tibet tea-horse trade and cross-border border trade, serving as important material evidence of the central government's economic rule over Tibet and the evolution of currency in the southwestern border regions. This coin set has interdisciplinary research value, encompassing border political history, cross-cultural ethnic customs, and early modern Chinese metal casting technology. All seven coins retain their original circulation patina, untouched by artificial cleaning or restoration. The portraits, floral engravings, inscriptions, and beaded edges are all in perfect balance, without a single flaw, maintaining their overall quality. A complete set of coins far surpasses individual coins in terms of display effect and long-term value preservation, consistently maintaining a steadily rising market value at international overseas coin auctions.

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