Ürümchi Mint

C.G. Mannerheim in Central Asia 1906-1908.  Helskini:  National Board of Antiquities, 1999.

At the age of 40, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim journeyed by horseback across Asia when he was an calvary officer of the Russian Army.  He started in Krasnovodsk in Turkmenistan and ended his journey in Lushun (Port Arthur).  Over two years, he traveled over 14,000 kilometers, 10,000 of them on horseback.  He collected more than 1000 objects for the Finnish National Museum and took 1370 photographs.  After World War II, he became the sixth President of Finland.

In the photo above, the same room housed both the machines for minting coins (liang) and the German machinery--at that moment lying idle--for making ammunition.  A bullet for your thoughts?