Former Site of the Guangdong Mint

Former Site of the Guangdong Mint

The former site of the Guangdong Mint is a cultural heritage conservation unit of Guangzhou.

The former site of the Guangdong Mint, located on Huanghua Road (now the area around the Party School of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee), was originally known as the Guangdong Coin Bureau.

In the 13th year of the Guangxu reign (1887), then Viceroy of Liangguang Zhang Zhidong purchased over 80 acres of land to establish the mint, and the machinery was procured in Britain by Liu Ruifen, the Chinese Minister to the United Kingdom.

Production began in April of the 15th year of the Guangxu reign (1889), initially minting copper coins. It was the first factory in China to use machinery for large-scale coin production and also the earliest large-scale mechanized factory in Guangdong.

In the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign, it was renamed the Mint of the Board of Revenue (equivalent to the Ministry of Finance). In the 2nd year of the Xuantong reign (1910), it became the Guangzhou Branch Mint of the Board of Revenue. After the 1911 Revolution and the recovery of Guangdong, it was renamed the Guangdong Mint of the Military Government.

In August 1993, it was designated as part of the fourth batch of Cultural Heritage Conservation Units of Guangzhou by the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Heritage Conservation Units of Guangzhou