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The 38th Year of the Republic of China
Taiwan Provincial Coin

China's currency system in the later years of the Republic of China was in disorder, as the China's legal tender and gold coin policy collapsed in 1949. The Republic government decided to recover the silver standard system by ordering every provincial mints to resume the minting of silver coins. I post below is a specimen of this kind.


Marks of Rareness of the Collected Currencies
Extremely Rare A ~ Very Rare B ~ Rare C ~ Not So Many D ~ Common E

ObverseReverseDescription
No. 320
Diam.
22.5 mm
Wt. 5.2 g.
Rareness D
Mint Evolution & Peculiarity
This silver coin was minted by Taiwan Mint in the 38th year of the Republic (1949). The obverse of this coin bearing the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and 8 Chinese characters above meaning "The 38th Year of the Republic of China". On the reverse are bearing with the map of Taiwan island in the centre, and 3 Chinese characters on the surface meaning Taiwan Province. On the both sides of the map, there are 2 Chinese characters denoting the denominations of 50 cents.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen (originally named Sun Wen) was the great forerunner of the Chinese Democratic Revolution. He was well known as the Founding Father of the Republic of China by Chinese.Dr. Sun was born on Nov 12, 1866 in Hsiangshan county of Kwangtung Province and passed away of illness on Mar. 12, 1925 in Peking.

Dr. Sun received his early education in Honolulu (Hawaii), as he went to Honolulu with his mother to join his borther in 1879. Dr. Sun returned to China in 1884. He entered the College of Medicine for Chinese [何啟先生創立之雅麗氏醫院附設之 香港西醫書院] in Hong Kong in 1887. Dr. Sun was the first student to enter the school and he was elected as the monitor of about 30 classmates. He gradurated in 1892.He worked as a doctor in Maucau and Hong Kong. He found that the social and political situation of China had fallen into decay in the later 19th century. He suggested to Li Hung Chang of Qing government for political reformations in 1894, but Li refused his suggestions.

Later he engaged in revolutionary activities for national salvation in Canton. He founded the Hsing Chung Hui (Society for the Revival of China) in Honolulu in 1894. Dr. Sun also established a branch of Hsing Chung Hui known as Chien Heng Hang 乾亨行商店, 成員包括陳少白, 尢烈, 楊鶴齡等 in Hong Kong in February 1895. He was elected as president of Tung Meng Hui (Chinese Revolutionary League) in Tokyo in 1905. Though the League had organized many times of uprising in southern China, all uprisings failed. In 1911, Dr. Sun issued abroad the gold standard currency of the Republic of China to raise funds for the revolutionary activities in China.

Dr. Sun returned to China after the successful Wuchang Uprising in 1911. Dr. Sun was elected President of the Provisional Government on January 1, 1912 in Nanking and the Republic of China was established.



    Bibliography

  1. A History of Chinese Currency (16th Century BC - 20th Century AD), 1983 Jointly Published by Xinhua (New China) Publishing House N.C.N. Limited M.A.O. Management Group Ltd. ISBN 962 7094 01 3
  2. Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler Colin R. Bruce II. : Standard catalog of World Coins 1991, 18th edition
  3. Dong Wenchao : 中國歷代金銀幣貨通覽 (An Overview of China's Gold & Silver Coins of Past Ages - The gold and silver coins and medals of modern China. p.850 ISBN 962-531-001-0)



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Y K Leung.