During the Republic of China, in addition to Yuan Datou, the silver coins minted by the central government also included Sun Xiaotou, Chuanyang, etc. This article only introduces Sun Xiaotou.
Wuchang Uprising
It is said that on October 10, 1911 (August 19, the third year of Xuantong), the Tongmenghui uprising in Wuchang, Hubei Province. On December 29, representatives from various provinces elected Sun Yat-sen as the interim president in Nanjing. On January 3 of the following year, the Nanjing Provisional Government was established. On February 12, Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty abdicated. Due to the haste of the incident and the rapid collapse of the Qing government, a large amount of cash was urgently needed in the chaos, and many places used old pre-Qing models. After the founding of the Republic of China, it was inconvenient to continue using the currency system of the previous dynasty. Therefore, in March, Finance Minister Chen Jintao reported to the President: "This department plans to issue a new model first to mint commemorative coins. We won 10 million yuan to publish the portrait of the President in the first issue. It will be widely circulated and is regarded as a beauty. The rest of the new coins will be used in pattern style." All the patterns should be changed and should be circulated for the time being. "The president agreed to his request and instructed: "The rest of the new patterns should be adopted, and the grain model should be painted in the middle to take the meaning of good harvest and prosperity for the people." This is the origin of Sun Xiang's "Commemorative Coin of the Founding of the Republic of China", commonly known as Sun Xiaotou.
(1) Sun Yat-sen's image is the "lower five-star" on the founding commemorative coin.
It was minted in 1912. The five-pointed star is at the bottom of the back of the coin. It is commonly known as the "lower five-star" in Quanjie. The output is unknown and there are not many in existence. The price ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 to hundreds of thousands depending on the condition. Minted by Tianjin Mint.
Lot 541 Sun Yat-sen's portrait, lower five-star version of the one-yuan silver coin commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China, PCGS AU92, Nanjing Three Provinces 2022 Spring Auction, transaction price 62100
(2) Sun Yat-sen's portrait, the "upper five-star" commemorative coin of the founding of the People's Republic of China
was minted in 1912. The five-pointed star is above the back of the coin, commonly known as the "upper five-star". The output is unknown, and the price ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 to hundreds of thousands depending on the condition. Produced by the Nanjing Mint, the so-called "Tianjin version" is based on rumors.
Lot 4279 Sun Xiang founding commemorative coin of the Republic of China, one yuan silver coin with five stars, PCGS AU55, Dengtong, Anhui, 2022 spring auction, transaction price 184000
(3) Post-made "six-pointed star" founding commemorative coin and its issuance time
There is another common "six-pointed star" founding commemorative coin, which was actually only produced in 1927. After the Northern Expeditionary Army captured Nanjing and Shanghai in March 1927, the National Government was established in Nanjing on April 18. The new government was unwilling to continue to use the portrait of Yuan Shikai, who had rebelled against the revolution, on the national currency, and immediately ordered the Nanjing Mint to produce new silver coins. Due to the eagerness to revise the edition, the commemorative coin with the image of Sun in the first year of the Republic of China was put into production after slight modifications. More than 487.59 million six-pointed star "Sun Xiaotou" silver coins were minted in Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuchang alone. This one-yuan silver coin, commonly known as "Sun Xiaotou", was second only to "Yuan Datou" in circulation during the period when China used silver yuan. Together with the parts remade by small factories in various places and when the silver standard was restored during the war in 1949, the total amount exceeds 500 million pieces.
Lot 1875 Sun Yat-sen statue commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China, NGC MS67, Beijing Chengxuan 2020 Spring Auction, the transaction price was 149500
. Because it has a large number of mints in existence, the price is relatively cheap, and the currency is mostly a few hundred yuan. The graded coins with good appearance and high scores can also reach hundreds of thousands. However, there are only a handful of "Six-Pointed Star" Sun Xiaotou worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. Don't be greedy for small gains and suffer big losses.
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