China (1914) 50 cents Y-328
This specimen was lot 52292 in Stack's Bowers Hong Kong auction (Hong Kong, April 2021), where it sold for $12,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "CHINA. 50 Cents, Year 3 (1914). PCGS MS-62 Gold Shield. A delightful example of this difficult minor denomination, the present piece offers light steely gray-argent surfaces with only a few scattered marks and a great lustrous brilliance." The Manchu dynasty was overthrown in 1911 and a republic established. No accepted process for transfer of power existed and various warlords and cliques jockeyed for power. Finally, general Yuan Shih-kai came out on top. Several commemoratives were issued to celebrate this event, most notably Y-322, but this design with the sideways bust of the general was selected for mass production at all the imperial mints. Yuan Shih-kai managed to get himself crowned emperor before he died in 1916. Immense quantities of dollars were struck, perhaps hundreds of millions, and the coin finally drove out all the foreign coins which had circulated in China for centuries. Ten cent, twenty cent and this fifty cent coin accompanied the dollar but were struck in smaller quantities.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.6 g, 0.700 fine silver.
Catalog reference: L&M-64; K-655; KM-Y328; WS-0175-1.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Lin Gwo Ming, Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Gold & Silver Coins: Ching and Republican Issues, Seventh Edition, Hong Kong: Ma Tak Wo Numismatic Co., Ltd., 2012.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The April 2021 Hong Kong Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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