China, Quing Dynasty, Emperor Kuang-hsü ("Guangxu") Yunnan Province, "Zheng Yu Ke Ding" 5.5 Taels

China, Quing Dynasty (1875-1908), Emperor Kuang-hsü ("Guangxu")Yunnan Province, "Zheng Yu Ke Ding" 5.5 Taels "Publicly Agreed Fine Silver" tax ingot, weigh 202g , called as well "Pai Fang Ding" or "pack saddle" or "saddlepack" sycee due to its form. Three identical stamps "Zheng Yu Ke Ding " (Zheng Yu Bank), no assayer's chop or date.Extremely fine. Very rareTwo different silver casting systems started co-habitating late XIXth century in the Yunnan Province. Saddle sycees issued by banks outside of Kunmin city were usually not stamped by third-party assayers or required to be before being put into circulation. This situation spurred a few banks of Kunmin to form an alliance with a view to a more trusted and standardized "assayed saddle sycee" in terms of metal weight and fineness. Stamps of third-party (later "official") assayers were apposed on the "Pai Fang Din" as locally referred to, and one could read as well "Bank Remittance Fine Silver". Around 1904, they finally became acceptable silver tax ingots by the Yunnan provincial government, provided that an additional 2% silver remittance was added, as their pureness' was on average 98% of fine silver. The "assayed saddle sycee" system became ultimately the wider norm.Noteworthy is that there is no local or official assaying stamp on this piece, leading to believe that this was casted outside of Kunmin city. Only a few examples without the assayers' stamps casted outside of Kunmin city are known to survive, making this a very rare type. The back of the ingot shows as well very clear casting strikes and the three stamps on the front side are very legible and well marked, only light marks on the rest of the surface. Very rare  Authenticated and graded by HUAXIA AU. In HUAXIA holder (ref 661035870/7194000341)Authenticated and graded by HUAXIA Gading Service AU. In HUAXIA holder (ref 661035870/7194000341)