KIAUCHAU: Wilhelm II, 1898-1914, 5 cents, 1909, Y-1, J-729, Deutsche Kiautschou Gebiet // Chinese inscription dà dé guó bao at center, qing dao above, a pleasing lustrous mint state example, PCGS graded MS62. The Kiau Chau Bay concession (Kiautschou Bucht in German, Jiaozhou Wan in Chinese) was a territory leased by Germany from 1898 to 1914. The administrative center of the territory was located at Tsingtau (Qingdao). The Deutsch-Asiatische Bank issued copper-nickel 5 cents and 10 cents in October 1909 to cope with market confusion arising from the exchange between the Mexican 8 reales (which Chinese merchants commonly used) and the German mark. It was decreed that local authority had unlimited obligations to exchange these coins for Mexican 8 reales (as 1 yuan) and may not refuse them for transactions within 3 yuan. When Tsingtao was occupied by the Japanese military on November 7, 1914, these coins ceased to circulate.
