Chinese Coins (page in reconstruction)

Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Silver coins  20th century coins

1898 Pattern 50 Cents
2021 SOLD for $ 600K by Stack's Bowers

An undated Shen-Si Province silver pattern coin of 1898 of 3 mace and 6 candareens matching 50 cents was sold for $ 600K by Stack's Bowers on October 7-8, 2021, lot 23062. It is graded SP-63 by PCGS.

1898-1899 Mace and Candareens
​2018 SOLD for $ 440K including premium

The Sino-Japanese war for the control of Korea ends in April 1895 in a military and economic disaster for the Qing dynasty, more threatened than ever by foreign intrusions. The young Guangxu Emperor was only a puppet to Empress Dowager Cixi. However he tries to modernize China on the Meiji model.

In 1897 the American company Ferracute is awarded a contract to supply and install coin presses in the Chinese provinces at the request of the imperial government. The material is sent without delay and the transfer of technology is successfully carried out in 1898 in Szechuen to produce silver coins and the small brass coin, the tsen colloquially named cash.

For silver the biggest denomination corresponds exactly to one US dollar. The word dollar does not appear, replaced by the weight in the units of the Chinese decimal system, mace and candareen, subdivisions of the tael.

That Chinese dollar is marked in English letters 7 mace and 2 candareens while the half dollar is 3 mace and 6 candareens. The emitting province is indicated on the same side which is centered on the effigy of a dragon. The other side is inscribed in Chinese characters.

Some other provinces immediately follow Szechuen with the same conception. Also in 1898 Guangxu attempted to start an ambitious reform program which was halted by a military coup organized by Cixi. These events culminated in 1899 in the Boxer War. Curiously the provincial coinage of American origin was to survive this xenophobic phase.

The sale by Heritage in Hong Kong on June 28 (June 27 in US time) includes three rarities in splendid condition, graded by NGC.

The 'dragon dollar' 1898-1899 'Cheh-Kiang Province' graded MS66 is estimated $ 500K, lot 30074. The half dollar of same period and same province graded MS67 is estimated $ 100K, lot 30073. The 1899 half dollar 'Kiang Nan Province' graded MS62-Prooflike is estimated $ 250K, lot 30088.

RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Kiang Nan half dollar SOLD for $ 310K
Cheh-Kiang half dollar SOLD for $ 106K
Cheh-Kiang dollar : SOLD for $ 440K

1899 3 Mace and 6 Candareens
​2022 SOLD for $ 1.2M by Stack's Bowers

Link to lot 51040.

1906 Pattern Tael Restrike
​2021 SOLD for $ 1.35M by Stack's Bowers

In 1903 CE the Chinese government desired to unify the coinage under the gold standard in five denominations, 1 Tael and 1/2, 1, 2 and 5 Mace. Pattern coins were produced in Tientsin from dies prepared in Osaka. The project was terminated before operational production due to the resistance of the provinces against a central Chinese mint.

A silver pattern tael dated 29th year of Kuang Hsu graded SP-55 by PCGS was sold for $ 840K by Stack's Bowers on April 6, 2021, lot 50006.

​A highly rare silver pattern restrike made in 1906 in Tientsin was sold for $ 1.35M from a lower estimate of $ 200K by Stack's Bowers on December 2, 2021, lot 42054. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

​This example in gem condition is graded SP 65 by PCGS.

1908 7 Mace and 2 Candareens
2021 SOLD for $ 1.26M by Stack's Bowers

From 1906 the silver coinage from the Tientsin Mint was referred as the Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo.

A 1907 Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo pattern dollar graded MS-65+ by PCGS was sold for $ 500K by Stack's Bowers on April 6, 2021, lot 50008. Please watch the Coin in motion shared by the auction house.

An undated silver coin made in 1908 of 7 mace and 2 candareens worth 1 dollar, graded SP64+ by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.26M from a lower estimate of $ 150K by Stack's Bowers on December 2, 2021, lot 42043. It has the Tai-Ching-Ti-Kuo mark. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

It had been made in 1908 in the Tientsin Mint and is marked  defining the silver coinage since 1906..

With the same face value, a coin marked Pei Yang and dated 34th year of Kuang Hsu was sold for $ 960K by Stack's Bowers in the same sale as above, lot 42044. That reign date matches 1908 CE. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

1910 Yunnan Spring Dollar
2010 SOLD for US $ 1.06M by Champion Hong Kong

Yunnan is one of the most remote provinces of China. In 1905 the total population was around 85,000 only. The development of this mountainous region is a must. A coin production mint is established in Kunming, the regional capital. From 1908 until the fall of the Qing in 1912 it issues silver dollars identifying the name of the emperor.

The region is bordering Tonkin. The railway line connecting Haiphong to Kunming is an entirely French project with the authorization of the Chinese government. The rail reaches Kunming on April 1, 1910 after seven years of work in extremely severe conditions.

A 1 dollar silver coin surfaced in 1920. Its characteristics are unusual. An inscription in four Chinese characters on the reverse indicates that it was made in the spring of a year corresponding to 1910, defined in the calendar cycle of 60 years and not by the year of the reign. This is the only known example of a Chinese coinage naming a season. An English inscription on the side of the dragon recalls the Chinese value of 7 mace and 2 candareens and the production in the province of Yun-Nan.

This piece was considered unique after three runs of fakes had been identified. Graded AU55 by NGC, it was sold for US $ 1.06M by Champion Hong Kong on August 22, 2010, lot 12 here linked on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.

A few months later, another coin was authenticated. NGC and Champion testified that it was struck with the same dies as the discovery coin. Graded AU58 by NGC, it was sold twice by Heritage : for $ 550K on September 8, 2011 and for $ 660K on July 12, 2020, lot 30141.

The two surviving pieces referred above are certified AU (Almost Uncirculated) by NGC. This variety has thus the characteristics of a pattern coin which has not been followed by production. Champion supports the very plausible hypothesis of the project of a presentation coin to celebrate the completion of the rail line.

​The 2020 Heritage catalog announces a total population of three units certified by NGC.

1911 Long Whisker Dragon Pattern Dollar
​Intro

The standardization of the currency is essential for maintaining some political unity in China. The production of coins is centralized in Tianjin and the dollar replaces the complicated system based on fractions of the tael.

The Tianjin mint survives the changes of regime : the fall of the Qing is followed by the republic, established on January 1, 1912, interrupted in 1915 by the self-proclamation of its president Yuan Shikai as emperor and restored after his death in 1916.

From 1910 to 1920 the head designer and chief engraver of the Tianjin mint was Luigi Giorgi on whom biographical details are scarce. He produced several designs of silver coins, some of which were signed with his name. His coins are drawn and engraved with great sharpness. His One Dollar with the Dragon in the Clouds, dated to the 3rd year of the child emperor Xuantung which is 1911 CE, is the last imperial coinage of the Qing.

Designed in the same year by Giorgi, the silver dollar with the Long Whiskers Dragon was not released for circulation. Its pattern coins are beautifully struck on specially prepared surface.

The best surviving specimen is graded SP-65 by NGC. It was sold for $ 430K by Bowers and Merena on December 4, 2010 and for $ 460K by Stack's Bowers on October 6, 2020, lot 41244.

The fall of the Qing makes the dragon obsolete. This imperial symbol is soon replaced by the portrait of Yuan Shikai. The silver dollars with this effigy dated to the year 3 of the Republic, 1914 CE, were also prepared in Tianjin by Giorgi.

1
2022 SOLD for $ 3M by Stack's Bowers

A long whisker dragon pattern silver dollar graded SP63+ by PCGS was sold in Hong Kong for US $ 3M from a lower estimate of $ 750K on May 4, 2022 by Stack's Bowers, lot 51134. Please watch the Coin in motion shared by the auction house.

The experimental strike included some variations. This pattern coin has stylistic differences in the Manchu script and the leaves on the reverse.

2
2021 SOLD for $ 1.2M by Heritage

​A long whisker dragon pattern silver dollar graded PR63 by NGC was sold for $ 1.2M by Heritage on December 11, 2021, lot 34011.

3
​2021 SOLD for $ 1.02M by Stack's Bowers

A long whisker dragon pattern silver dollar graded SP-64 by PCGS was sold for $ 1.02M by Stack's Bowers on April 6, 2021, lot 50009.
Link to Stack's Bowers blog.

1914 Silver Pattern Dollar
​2022 SOLD for $ 1.17M by Stack's Bowers

Link to lot 51163.

1914 Yuan Shih-kai Pattern Dollar
2021 SOLD for $ 500K by Stack's Bowers

Link to catalogue.

1928 Posthumous Chang Tso-lin Pattern Silver Dollar
​Intro

When the central government is weak, warlords seek to establish military dictatorships. The money has kept the memory of Roman usurpers. In the early twentieth century, coins also provided the image of ephemeral rulers of China.

Zhang Zuolin (Chang Tso-lin) was one of these power-hungry generals. Having become the master of Manchuria after supporting the Japanese, he managed to win several provinces and to control Beijing in 1927. He then took the extravagant title of Grand Marshal of the military government of the Republic of China.

A gold coin of 50 yuan is then prepared in Tientsin, with his image in military uniform. The other side is dated to the sixteenth year of the Republic, assessing that Zhang had not, or not yet, the imperial ambitions of Yuan Shikai. Only a few prototypes of this coin was made. It is nevertheless important in the history of Chinese numismatics, because it is the largest gold coin of the Republic.

It is known in two copies only. One of them, which was presented to Zhang, was kept by his family. Remained in uncirculated condition, this piece of outstanding quality was sold for HK $ 4.4M by Bonhams on November 24, 2012, lot 500.

The new leader of the Kuomintang (Guomindang), Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang Jieshi), set out to reunify China. Chang Tso-lin lost Beijing on June 3, 1928. The next day, he died in the explosion of his private train, perpetrated by a rival faction. His son Chang Hsueh-liang (Zhang Xueliang), nicknamed the Young Marshal, succeeds him.

Currency is essential to ensure the loyalty of soldiers, especially in a civil war. Since 1912, the official currency of the Republic of China has been the dollar.

A silver dollar was prepared with the effigy of Chang Tso-lin in civilian dress on the year of Republic 17, 1928 CE. Its text announces it as memorial, which suggests that it is posthumous. Its terminus ante quem is December 29, 1928, when the Young Marshal rallies to the government of the Kuomintang. Having become politically incorrect, this coin will not be issued.

1
2021 SOLD for $ 2.3M by Stack's Bowers

A specimen graded SP-64 by PCGS of Chang Tso-lin's dollar was sold for 2.3M on April 6, 2021 in Hong Kong by Stack's Bowers, lot 50016.

2
2021 SOLD for $ 2.16M by Heritage

From the same posthumous variety as the example above, a coin graded MS62 by NGC was sold for $ 2.16M by Heritage on December 11, 2021, lot 34077.