China, 1906 AD., Ch'ing Dynasty, emperor Te Tsung, Shandong province, 10 Cash, KM Y11s.

China, Ch'ing dynasty, emperor Te Tsung (De Zong), Guang Xu (Kuang Hsü) Reign (1875-1908),Tsinan mint for Shandong (Shantung) province, 1906 AD.,
1 Cent / 10 Cash (28 mm / 6,95 g),
Obv.: incuse Chinese symbol 東 "dong" , the mint mark and abbreviated name for the Shandong province mint in center of a raised circular frame, Chinese symbols 大清铜币 (top-right-down-left) "da qing tong bi" ("bronze coin of the great Qing (Dynasty)") within beaded circle and on top four characters in Manchu outside circle, flanked by Chinese sexagenary date system symbols for date 1906; characters at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position for the Board of Revenue mint; beneath, also outside circle, value in Chinese characters near the bottom of the coin 当制钱十文 "dang zhi qian shi wen" which means the coin is worth ten cash coins.
Rev.: 光绪年造 / TAI-CHING-TI-KUO COPPER COIN , (光绪年造 - guang xu nian zao, means "minted during the Guang Xu years" in Chinese characters), dragon within a beaded circle.
CCC 513 ; KM Y11s .

According to the Chinese Maritime Customs annual reports, the Shantung Provincial Mint at Tsinan (Chinan) was opened in late 1904 and closed late in 1906 or early 1907. By 1911, the mint facility had been converted to a paper mill (other sources say a cotton mill). About 1918 the warlord who controlled Shantung purchased equipment from Japan for a new mint, but it was never opened, and the machinery was used to establish the Kalgan Mint. Shantung never had another mint and the only coins made for circulation were all struck in Imperial times. There are Shantung pattern coins from the Republican period, dated 1923, 1926, 1931 and 1933, but these all appear to have been made at some other mint, probably the Tientsin Mint.

During the later Qing dynasty, the coinage of the ancient copper coins had been suspended in most of the provinces in China. The Mint masters found that they could not cast the tranditional cash coins economically, they stopped casting and engaged in another kind of circular coin struck by machinery without a square hole in the centre. It was known as "T'ung Yuan" [copper coin], or "T'ung Hsien" [copper cent] and or "Tung Pan" [copper plate] Each one is equivalent to ten cash. Later, there were also denominations of 1, 2, 5, 20, and 30 cash. Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo means Great Ching Empire, Ching being the emperor. The cash value is ten wen (ten cash).
No mint mark appears at the center of the obverse of coins produced in the central mint of Tianjin. Provincial coins produced in any area besides Tianjin bear a mint mark.

Shantung province 山東省 - Tsinan Mint. A copper mint was in operation from 1905 to 1907 and had ties with the Tientsin Peiyang Mint.
濟南造幣廠 一九零五至一九零七年間, 鑄有銅幣, 與天津北洋局聯營。

One of the biggest challenges facing anyone visiting China or attempting to understand Chinese history is the various names that refer to the same emperor.
Many Chinese people, official sources and plaques at historic sites, refer to dates by year of the period in which an emperor reigned. This means that foreigners are often confused as they do not carry around dynastic dates tables in their heads.
Matters are further complicated by the fact that emperors are known by a number of different names.
Take the Qing Dynasty of the Manchu emperors who ruled China from 1644 to 1911. Not to be confused with the Qin dynasty, of the first emperor and his terracotta warriors who ruled from 221 BC to 206BC.
The Qing Dynasty was actually founded in 1616 and at first it was known as the Later Jin. The title was changed to Qing in 1644.

As an example of the naming of emperors take the man who ruled from 1875 to 1908.
His family name, like that of all the Qing Emperors, was Aisin Gioro. His personal name was Aisin Gioro Zaitian. However, use of this name was taboo and it was never spoken. A title would be selected for the reign of each emperor, and, in this case, the name chosen was Guanxu. This was used, particularly by foreigners, as if it was his personal name. In China, during his reign he would normally be referred to simply as “His Majesty The Emperor.”
After an emperor died, however, he would be given a name which would be used for ancestral worship rites. The name selected for this emperor was De Zong. Educated Chinese would never use anything other than De Zong in referring to him, with use of Guangxu being regarded as vulgar.

Few foreigners find it easy to cope with all this and many are mystified as they visit the historic sites of China and attempt to understand explanations and signs.
Reading books on Chinese history in English is further complicated by the fact that many use the old Wade-Giles system of writing the sounds of Chinese Characters, rather than the modern Pinyin system, used above.
In Wade-Giles, you will find this emperor's personal name written as Tsai-T'ien (Zaitian). Guanxu is written as Kuang-Hsü. De Zong is written as Té Tsung.