Month Public Assayers' 記月公估
Month Saddle Sycee is a special type of Yunnan Saddle Sycee; it consistently carries the inscription of "Certain Month Fine Silver". The month inscribed may be any month of the year numbered from 1 to 12. It is easy to distinguish Month Saddle from other Saddles which are inscribed with "Publicly Agreed Fine Silver" or "Remittance Bank Fine Silver".
In Kunmin City, Month Saddle Sycee was assayed differently from its counterparts since only one assayer was required. The assayer was either 童福盛 (Tong Fu Shen), or 馮世有 (Feng Si You). They used the title of 公估 ("Gong Gu"-Public Assayer), the same title of the assayers for Saddle Type I-C. The two assayers, even though they had the same title, assayed Saddle Sycee of different kinds and different usages, since 馮世有(Feng Si You) did not appear as an assayer on the Type I-C normally consist of 3 assayers, 童福盛 (Tong Fu Shen) and 佘慶盛 (Ser Ching Shen) were two names which always appeared, and the 3rd was either by 段通寶 (Duan Tong Bao), 周寶銓 (Jou Bao Chuan), or 陳元昌 (Chen Yuan Chang).
Month Saddle was principally cast for the remittance business involving Yunnan and neighboring provinces, when a Yunnan casting firm was acting as the cashier. Usually, a remittance sent over a distance would take a few months to go through, therefore, it became a general practice for a client to agree in advance with the remitter on the month to cash the remittance silver with a cashier in the designated location. A Yunnan casting firm, when paying for a remittance, was accustomed to inscribing the number of the month of payment on each of the Saddle Sycee used as a form of payment. Because a remittance from other provinces usually used a different weight scale and fineness standard than that of Yunnan, a Month Saddle often had different weight and fineness standards than other Saddle specimens.
No.
I-M-1
Weight: 188 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 童福盛號/正月紋銀
Tong Fu Shen FirmThe 1st Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-2
Weight: 187 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 雷慶泰號/貳月紋銀
Lei Ching Tai FirmThe 2nd Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-3
Weight: 200 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 慶盛佘記/參月紋銀
Ching Shen Ser FirmThe 3rd Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-4
Weight: 178 grams/5 taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 陳元昌號/肆月紋銀
Chen Yuan Chang FirmThe 4th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-5
Weight: 168 grams/5- taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 通寶段記/伍月紋銀
Tong Bao Duan FirmThe 5th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-6
Weight: 176 grams/5- taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 慶盛佘記/陸月紋銀
Ching Shen Ser FirmThe 6th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-7
Weight: 194 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 陳元昌號/柒月紋銀
Chen Yuan Chang FirmThe 7th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-8
Weight: 172 grams/5- taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 周寶銓號/捌月紋銀
Jou Bao Chuan FirmThe 8th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-9
Weight: 188 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 周寶銓號/玖月紋銀
Jou Bao Chuan FirmThe 9th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估馮看訖
Public Assayer Feng Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-10
Weight: 186 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 周寶銓號/拾月紋銀
Jou Bao Chuan FirmThe 10th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-11
Weight: 170 grams/5- taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 雷慶源號/冬月紋銀
Lei Ching Yuan FirmThe 11th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估馮看訖
Public Assayer Feng Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-12
Weight: 188 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 童福盛號/腊月紋銀
Tong Fu Shen FirmThe 12th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-13
Weight: 189 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 鎰元龔記/伍月紋銀
Yi Yuan Gong Firm
The 5th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chops: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-14
Weight: 160 grams/5+ taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 童福盛號/冬月紋銀
Tong Fu Shen Firm
The 11th Month Fine Silver
Assaying chop: 公估童福盛
Public Assayer Tong Fu Shen
Notes:
Up to now, this piece is the only Monthly Saddle found pressed with this assaying chop "公估童福盛"(Public Assayer Tong Fu Shen), instead of "公估童看訖" (Public Assayer Tong Checked) that we usually see.
Collection of the webmaster
No.
I-M-15
Weight: 162 grams/5- taels
Date: N/A
Inscriptions: 李源鑫號/玖月紋銀(中)/柒月紋銀(左、右)
Li Yuan Hsing Firm
The 9th Month Fine Silver (Middle)
The 7th Month Fine Silver (Left and Right)
Assaying chop: 公估童看訖
Public Assayer Tong Checked
Notes:
Two months are given on this piece, it is because of a deferral of remitted payment had been made by the remittance bank and the client. Also see O-M-5.
Collection of the webmaster
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