QING: Guang Xu, 1875-1908, AE cash (3.71g), Tianjin (Baojin) Mint, Zhihli Province, H-22.1460, Hsu-410, machine struck in 1888; variety where bottom of bao is open; large characters on reverse, a lovely lustrous example, About Unc, ex K.K. Lee Collection, in old American Missionary Church Tithe & Offering Envelope dated March 20, 1932. The mint at Tianjin purchased modern western machinery to strike coins from Greenwood and Batley in England. When mint officials at the Bao Jin Mint in Tianjin calculated that each machine-struck cash cost more than 2 cash to produce, striking of single square-holed cash was suspended.
Estimate: 150-250 USD