Agreed; KM/Y 301.5 would be my guess. The difference between 301.5 and 301.6 are whether there are "many" or "few" "stems" on the "flower", by which they mean the swirly ornaments on either side of the two flags. Since those ornaments on your coin are worn and/or damaged, it's hard to be certain.
I have a copy of "The Minted Ten-Cash Coins of China", a book assembled in 1971 from articles published by A.M.T.Woodward in the 1920s and 30s. I believe these same articles are what Krause (and/or Yeoman) based its classification on, though the descriptions in Krause are often abbreviated to the point of inscrutability.
This coin is listed in Woodward as number 989 (obverse G, reverse 12), struck in Nanjing (Nanking) and rated as "common".
Unlike certain other types of 10 cash coins, this coin doesn't have a mint name or mintmark on it. This should not be interpreted as therefore being a "central government issue" or intended for general circulation throughout the Republic as a whole, although this is how the catalogues usually treat them. Rather, such omissions were usually the result of corrupt mint officials, often acting under orders from local warlords, who wished to keep the exact number of coins they struck a secret (and therefore they could pocket as much seigniorage for themselves as possible).
Some general background you might be interested in: the
cash referred to in the denomination is the English name for the traditional cast copper coin with the square hole, made in China for over 2000 years and finally rendered obsolete as a functional currency in the early years of the Republic (though they still had ceremonial usage). There were 1000 cash to a dollar, which became the official currency of China in the late 1800s. "10 cash" were therefore equal to 1 cent.
The two flags appearing on the obverse of your coin are the flags of the
Wuchang Uprising, adopted by the Nationalist Army as a military banner, and the
Five Races Flag of the Republic of China.
Mintage figures for Empire and early Republic coins are rarely known. Aside from the corrupt and secretive mint officials, there was also 50 years of civil war and invasion, during which may mint records were lost or destroyed.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Posted 06/06/2010 10:23 pm
