Empire General Issues

Fantastic 29rd Year Gold Tael Pattern Restrike

(t) CHINA. Gold Tael Pattern (Modern Restrike), Year 29 (1903). NGC PROOF-66 Cameo.

L&M-1019; Fr-Unlisted; K-927; cf. Chang Foundation-pg.16 #2; cf. Wenchao-pg.44 #6 (rarity five stars); WS-0001. Plain edge. Struck from original dies. Although a modern restrike from original dies this issue remains incredibly RARE and highly sought after by collectors. This pattern in gold seldom appears on the market in any form and is virtually uncollectable. The strike is needle sharp with intricate frosted devices in stark contrast to the highly reflective mirrored fields. Clearly the dies for these have been heavily polished creating a cameo effect not encountered on originals of this series, but still retain slightly rough surface texture in areas indicative of die rust. The bright yellow golden color catches the attention of those who behold it where the dragon appears to be flying right off the surface of the coin. The obverse is brilliant and free of tone while the reverse displays just a hint of patination that pops out when tilted in the light adding to its pleasing appearance. Although officially struck at the Tientsin Mint, the original dies were ordered from and prepared by the Osaka Mint in Japan. These issues are known in at least three different metal types including gold, silver and bronze all of which should be considered EXTREMELY RARE and highly sought after. This was done under the supervision of Robert Hart, Inspector General of Maritime Customs. The initial goal was an early attempt to unify Chinese coinage on the gold standard. Denominations were produced in 1 Tael, 5, 2, 1 and 1/2 Mace. The project failed for several reasons and never came to fruition. The project met a great deal of resistance from the directors of the provincial mints as the outlined plan called for one central mint being responsible for coinage production. This was in order to insure the uniformity of the new coinage and would prove to cut into the profits of the provincial directors. Also, at this time there was no plan in place to deal with the vastly different types of paper money circulating in China and how to accept them in exchange.

Estimate: $ 20000.00 - 30000.00

完美二十九年後鑄戶部庫平一兩金樣幣

光緒二十九年戶部庫平一兩金樣幣(後鑄)。

光邊。原模後鑄。雖為後鑄但仍備受藏家喜愛，極罕。金樣幣鮮少於市場面世，本次登場且為原模的後鑄可說是千載難逢的機會。銳打，霜面圖文與鏡面底版形成唯美對比。明顯模具曾經拋光，比起原鑄有更強烈的浮雕感，但亦可察覺因為模具鏽跡所出現的粗糙平面。亮金黃色的幣面，飛龍騰飛的圖景栩栩如生。正面光澤無包漿，反面燈光轉動下有一絲虹彩透現，美感倍增。 光緒戶部一兩樣幣原模來自日本大阪造幣局，於海關總稅務司赫德監督下在天津造幣廠製作。最初的目的是統一幣制實施並金本位，面值有一兩、五錢、二錢、一錢及半錢等五種。計畫沒能推行有幾個原因，其中之一是各省反對由中央設置總廠製造規格一致的新幣，因為這樣會影響他們的利益。此外，中國這時候也沒有能力處理大量流通中的各式紙幣及如何兌換的計畫。