QING: Tong Zhi, 1862-1874, AE 4 cash (14.43g), Ili mint, Xinjiang Province, H-22.1226, cast 1862-1866, VF. Ili (now Yining) was the site of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Kulja 1851, which opened the area for trade. In 1864-66, the city suffered severely from fighting during Muslim Rebellions. In 1866, Ili was seized by the rebel, Mu'azzam Khan. The city and the rest of the Ili River basin were seized by the Russians in 1871 during Yakub Beg's independent rule of Kashgaria. It was restored to China under the terms of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg in 1881. This was the last of the cash coins cast in Ili.

Estimate: USD 150 - 250