光绪年间,鉴于西方银元的涌入,出现银元套购白银,致使白银大量外流。朝野纷纷提出自铸银元。清光绪十三年(1887),李鸿章捷足先登,在北洋机器局内,设立宝津局,调来部分设备,并购买了英国的造钱机器设备等。光绪十六年(1890),建成了中国第一个近代铸币厂,又称北洋机器局铸钱局。这是中国近代铸造银元之始。
        在北洋机器局铸钱的同时,各省也在设立铸钱局。所造银钱,式样各异,成色不一,成为商民之累。为了统一铸造新式银钱,清政府谕令建立铸钱总厂。为此,于光绪二十九年(1903)十一月十六日,在天津建立北洋银元局。任命周学熙为总办,局机关设在宇纬路(今铁路第一小学)。
        银元局下属的造币厂,先是建在西窑洼护卫宫(今天纬路26号),称银元局铸币西厂。先铸造铜元,随又铸造银元。光绪三十一年(1905)五月,官方又购得土地128亩,在大经路(今中山路天津外贸华益公司附近) ,建成户部造币总厂(也称东厂)投产。所用机器是美国制造,每日可生产大小铜、银元60万枚。这是全国规模最大、设备最完善的近代化造币厂。
        宣统元年(1909),清廷将各省造币厂合并成9个分厂,天津造币厂为总厂,并颁布《造币厂章程》。随后,天津铸币西厂,也并入天津造币总厂。这样,天津的户部造币总厂,成为全国的货币制造中心。
        造币总厂初期,主要是制造铜元,发行全国。正面外圈为满文大清纪年和相当制钱若干,中间有“大清铜币”字样; 反面外圈为英文“光绪年造” ,中间为团龙图案。
        民国以后,袁世凯在这里铸造了大批银元“袁大头” 。1928年北洋军阀政权垮台,天津造币总厂瘫痪。1933年国民政府在上海设立中央造币厂,天津造币总厂结束了其历史使命。

        

·北洋银元局碾片车间

        During the reign of Emperor Guangxu,western silver coins flooded in China. Theillegal buy-out of silver incurred muchloss to China. People from the governmentand the pullic all proposed to cast silvercoins by China itself. In 1887,Li Hongzhang setup the Baojin Bureau in Northern Machinery Bureau.He bought mint machinery from UK and transferredsome facilities. In 1890,the Mint Bu reau was set up inNorthern Machinery Bureau,which was the first mint inChina. This was also the first time of casting silver coinsin modern China.
        Meanwhile,other provinces were setting up mintbureaus. The silver money was in different style andcontents,which brought much inconvenience to thebusinessmen and the people. To cast unified silvermoney,the Qing Government decided to set up theGeneral Mint. On November 16,1903,Northern SilverBureau commenced operation in Tianjin. Zhou Xuexiwas the General Officer. The bureau was located atYuwei Road (now No. 1 Primary School of Railway).

        The mint owned by the Northern Silver Bureau wasconstructed at Hunwei Palace,Xiyaowa (now No 26 ofTianwei Road),which was named WesternMint.Itproduced copper coins andthensilver coins. In May,1905,a piece of landof 128 mu at Dajing Road was purchasedto construct the General Mint (or EasternMint) of the Board of Revenue and Population. Allmachinery was made in US. The mint could produce 600thousand copper money and 600 thousand silver coins aday. It was the largest and most advanced mint in China.
        In 1909,the mints in different provinces weremerged to 9 branches of Tianjin General Mint bythe Qing Government. The Mint Principles werepromulgated. Tianjin Western Mint was also a part ofTianjin General Mint. General Mint of the Board ofRevenue and Population became the center of coincasting in China.
        In the beginning,the General Mint mainly producedcopper coins and issued all over China. On the front sideof the coin,the outer circle showed the year of QingDynasty`s and the quantity of the coins cast. Its centerwas "Copper coin of The Qing Dynasty". On the backside,the outer circle was "Made in Guanxu`s Reign" inEnglish. Its center was the picture of a group of dragons.
        After Yuan Shikai became the President of theRepublic of China,he cast a lot of silver coins withhis head portrait on them. In 1928,the Tianjin GeneralMint got bankrupt with the step-down of the Beiyangwarlords. In 1933,the Kuomintang Government set upCentral Mint in Shanghai. The history of Tianjin GeneralMint came to an end.

        

·1902建的天津造币厂(原天纬路中段)