China - Boxer Rebellion 1900

This coin is not an issue of the Taiping period. The "Fists of Righteous Harmony," or 'Boxers' as they were known in the west, rebeled against the foreigners and the Ch'ing (Qing) Dynasty at the turn of the last century (1900). The Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi manipulated them to concentrate their anger against the western powers greedily fighting over their portion of a weakened China and forcing trade concessions.
OB: shui lu ping an (r-l-t-b); Rx: at left - dao, a broadsword; at right - cha, a spear or pitch fork (Guandao and Trident, 坎 Kan hexagram; both are common weapon used by the Boxers); at bottom - the Kan, one of the eight Ba-Gua (trigrams). This is sign of water. The Boxers rebellion (Ihetuan) has 8 main divisions, all based on the eight signs of Ba-Gua. Kan division was based in Tianjin (Tientsin); at top - the Big Dipper (The Ursa Major).

For the revealing article on the discovery of this authentic historical coin:
Boxer Rebellion Coin - Ma Chuan De: [ link ]
Figure 1 in the Ma Chuan De article above is a rubbing. I've located a photo, of what is perhaps an authentic example of this very rare coin. You can see it at Zeno.ru with this: [ link ]

For a concise history of the end of thousands of years of Chinese dynastic rule go to this web link:
[ link ]

I have not found this interesting piece in Hartill. Jen (p. 177, #903) has a bit of info on it. While some numismatists claim it is a coin of the Boxers, others contend it is a charm issued by merchants. The obverse legend (Seal script) says "Shui Lu Ping An", which means 'safe passage by land and sea.' Another writer's interpretation is: "Ping Shui An Lu" in archaic seal script, literally "peaceful water tranquil land", but more poetically as "may there be peace and safety at sea and on land".
This would indicate a Boxer origin as well as the reverse which features one of the eight trigrams (water) and weapons used and demonstrated by the Boxers. Another view is that, since the Boxers were peasant farmers using martial arts, the weapons or farm tools were the ones that their religion said they were immune from. More research needs to be done on these.
Brass, 26mm; 8.16 gm