Hey everyone, I have this 1907 10 cash coin reference Y#10 and it has the word Jiaxing (嘉興) stamped into the obverse. Does anyone know why it would have been stamped that way? i couldn't find a reference to a cash coin with a city stamped into it. Can someone please pass on any info you may have?
Sorry. I have "The minted 10 Cash Coins of China" reference book, which has been pretty helpful in identifying the parent coins of this series. But as the mark was likely stamped on by a third party, I can't think of a reference which would confirm who made it and why. Third party counter stamps are mostly used on silver coinage to vouch for weight and fineness. If I were to guess, I would say that because these copper 10 cash coins were overproduced during the late-Qing Era, they probably lost purchasing power during the chaos of the 1911 Revolution and Warlord Era. Perhaps some coins were stamped to validate them for local circulation at par. Just a guess though--I have nothing specific to back it up. Good luck!
Thanks for your insight! I figured it would be something politics related. Jiaxing seems to have been a bit of a political hotbed from which the communist party was founded in 1921. Whatever the reason, i'm really happy to have a coin with added history.