北洋是现在天津地区的旧称，在清朝时被称为直隶省。北洋机器局(又称*火军**机器总局、天津机器制造局)是中国早期的现代化兵工厂，由北洋三口通商大臣崇厚等人于1867年创办，1870年由李鸿章接办。光绪十三年(1887年)，李鸿章在天津创建附属于北洋机器局的机器铸钱局（宝津局），铸造机制铜钱。
铸币设备部分来自北洋机器局，部分从英国进口。光绪二十一年(1895年)，清政府准许各省仿铸西式银币，时任北洋大臣的王文韶令北洋机器局试铸银币，于光绪二十二年(1896年)七月铸造了一套主币以圆为单位、面额为壹圆、伍角、贰角、壹角、半角五枚一套五等币值的银币,系北洋机器局的初铸银币。
而从光绪二十五年起，所铸之龙银改为计重制，并将 “大清北洋机器局造”改为“北洋造”三字，背面改为蟠龙图。光绪二十七年李鸿章卒死，由袁世凯继任北洋大臣，便决定筹设银元专局，在光绪二十八年十月落成，因为我国的辽宁、河北及山东等沿海各省泛称为“北洋”，所以名为 “北洋铸造银元总局”。 北洋的银元发展历程映衬着中国晚清货币政策的进与退，每一次断档也刻录着一次历史的颠簸。北洋铸币厂所铸造的光绪元宝为数不多，流通于世的相对其他元宝的数量也较少，随着时光的流逝也在大量的遗失。
北洋造光绪元宝，钱面：珠圈内满汉文“光绪元宝”，圈外上环“北洋造"，下环“库平七钱二分”，左右各一圆点心。钱背：中心为蟠龙图，上下环英文，左侧有阿拉伯数字“34”，左右各一圆点心。其表现出了当时的国际政治、经济、文化的交融，极具历史意义。 是集收藏与投资于一身的难能可贵的精品！
Beiyang is the old name of Tianjin now. It was called Zhili Province in the Qing Dynasty. Beiyang Machinery Bureau (also known as the General Administration of arms and machinery and Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau) is an early modern Arsenal in China. It was founded by Chonghou, Minister of Commerce of Beiyang sankou, and others in 1867 and taken over by Li Hongzhang in 1870. In the 13th year of Guangxu reign (1887), Li Hongzhang founded the machine coin making Bureau (Baojin Bureau) attached to the Beiyang Machinery Bureau in Tianjin. Some of the coin making equipment came from the Beiyang Machinery Bureau and some were imported from Britain. In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), the Qing government allowed all provinces to imitate Western-style silver coins. At that time, Wang Wenshao, the then Minister of Beiyang, ordered the Beiyang Machinery Bureau to try to cast silver coins. In July of the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), a set of five silver coins with the denomination of one yuan, five jiao, two jiao, one jiao and half angle, which was the first silver coin of Beiyang Machinery Bureau. From the 25th year of Guangxu, the Dragon Silver was changed to the weight system, and the words "made by Beiyang Machinery Bureau in the Qing Dynasty" were changed to "made by Beiyang", and the back was changed to the picture of coiled dragon. Li Hongzhang died in the 27th year of Guangxu, and Yuan Shikai succeeded Beiyang minister. He decided to set up a special Bureau for silver and yuan, which was completed in October of the 28th year of Guangxu. Because China's coastal provinces such as Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong are generally called "Beiyang", they are called "Beiyang General Administration for casting silver and Yuan". The development of Beiyang's silver dollar reflected the advance and retreat of China's monetary policy in the late Qing Dynasty, and each interruption also recorded a bump in history. There are few Guangxu ingots cast by Beiyang mint, and the number of other ingots circulating in the world is also small. With the passage of time, a large number of them are lost.
The following figure shows the Guangxu Yuanbao made in Beiyang that Xiao Bian has seen. The money face: the bead circle is full of "Guangxu Yuanbao" in Chinese, Outside the circle, the upper ring is "made in Beiyang" and the lower ring is "Kuping seven coins and two cents", with a round of snacks on the left and right. Qian Bei: the center is the picture of the dragon, the upper and lower rings are in English, the Arabic numeral "34" on the left and a round of snacks on the left and right. It shows the integration of international politics, economy and culture at that time, which is of great historical significance. It is a valuable boutique integrating collection and investment!