Four Chinese characters - Guang Xu Tong Bao (two-dot Tong) / Manchu inscription Boo-Jyi in fields. 22mm, 3.39 grams. Mint of Baoding in Zhili. Issued in 1899. AD. Hartill #22.1410.

In the beginning of 1898, the President of the Board of Revenue introduced a new control to prevent coinage abuses. A character from a "Thousand Character Classic" - an ancient poem written by Qian Zi Wen with 1000 different characters, was to be added every quarter to the reverse. Keeping track of the characters would provide information about the exact time of the minting of a coin in question. The system lasted for only a year and a half, so only 6 different characters were used. The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 187114 November 1908), born Zaitian, was the tenth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898. He initiated the Hundred Days' Reform, but was abruptly stopped when Cixi launched a coup in 1898, after which he was put under house arrest until his death. His reign name means "The Glorious Succession". This coin is unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic