Item number: A2620

Year: AD 1949

Material: Silver (400‰)

Size: 22.4 x 22.4 mm

Weight: 5.60 g

Manufactured by: Yunnan Mint, Kunming

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a twenty-cent (2 jiao 貳角)silver coin minted in AD 1949 by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Finance Mint (formerly the Yunnan Mint). The coin was withdrawn from production shortly after issuance due to the regime change.

The obverse of the coin features a frontal depiction of the Yunnan Provincial Senate building, which is the site of the Anti-Japanese War Victory Memorial Hall. Located in Kunming, the Memorial Hall stands on the former site of the Yunnan-Guizhou Governor-General’s Office from the Qing dynasty. Following the 1911 Revolution, it was successively used as the Provincial Normal School and Yunrui Middle School. In AD 1946, the building was constructed to commemorate the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan. The architectural style blends Chinese and Western elements, with a top-down layout resembling the form of an aeroplane, symbolising the strategic importance of the “Hump Route”. The Memorial Hall now functions as a museum, including the main building, the Monument to the People’s Heroes, and the exhibition gallery entitled “The Revolutionary Struggles of the People of Yunnan”. It serves as a patriotic education base in China.

The reverse features a plum blossom motif at the centre, encircled by the denomination “Twenty-Cent Silver Coin” written in opposing directions. Outside the beaded border, “Minted in Yunnan Province” is inscribed at the top, and “38th Year of the Republic of China” at the bottom, indicating the place and year of issuance. Plum blossom decorations are symmetrically arranged to the left and right of the central motif.

The Yunnan Mint, located in Kunming, traces its origins to the Yunnan Silver Coin Bureau established during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty. After the founding of the Republic, the mint continued operations, producing silver and copper coins and coinage for paper currency exchange. In response to regional warlordism and financial instability, the mint underwent multiple restructurings and issued numerous types of locally specific coinage, such as “Minted in Yunnan Province” silver coins and “Dian Character” currency. During the War of Resistance, Kunming’s strategic position as a rear-area stronghold made it a key financial hub. The Yunnan Mint cooperated in issuing legal tender and military currency, playing a critical role in sustaining wartime economic stability. After AD 1949, the mint was integrated into the new regime’s system, underwent further reorganisation and mergers, and became one of the regional coinage institutions in the early stages of the renminbi system.

In AD 1949, the Chinese Civil War extended to the southwest. At the time, Yunnan was under the control of Nationalist senior general Lu Han and was regarded as one of the key bases for a potential counteroffensive. However, as the Communist forces rapidly expanded their control across the country and cities such as Beiping, Nanjing, and Guangzhou fell in succession, the Nationalist government was in full retreat and Yunnan had become effectively isolated. Lu Han grew increasingly doubtful of the Nationalist government. Under mounting political pressure and Communist military advances, he declared his defection on 9 December AD 1949 and accepted the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. This action not only brought an end to Nationalist rule in Yunnan but also marked the near-complete unification of mainland China under Communist control, with the exception of Tibet.

物件編號: A2620

年代: 公元 1949 年

材質: 銀 (.400)

尺寸: 22.4 x 22.4 mm

重量: 5.60 g

製造地: 雲南省財政廳鑄造所，昆明

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚由雲南省財政廳鑄造所(原雲南造幣廠)，於公元1949年所鑄行之二角銀幣。鑄行不久即因政權改易而停鑄。

銀幣的正面為雲南省參議會會址(即抗戰勝利紀念堂)的正面圖。雲南抗戰勝利紀念堂位於昆明，原址為清代雲貴總督衙門，辛亥革命後曾作為省立師範學校及雲瑞中學。​公元1946年為紀念抗日戰爭勝利而建，建築融合中西風格，主體俯視呈飛機造型，象徵「駝峰航線」的戰略意義。​紀念堂現為博物館，包含主體建築、人民英雄紀念碑及《雲南人民革命鬥爭史》展廳，為中國愛國主義教育基地。

銀幣背面中央有一梅花飾，環列面額「貳角銀幣」對讀，珠圈外上刊「雲南省造」，下刊「中華民國三十八年」說明發行地及年。左右分列梅花飾。

雲南造幣廠位於昆明市，前身可追溯至清光緒年間設立的雲南銀元局。民國成立後，造幣廠持續運作，負責鑄造銀元、銅元及紙幣兌換所需的硬幣，並因應軍閥割據與金融混亂，多次改組，並曾大量鑄造地方性特殊幣制，如「雲南省造」銀元、「滇字」幣等。抗戰期間，因大後方地位重要，昆明成為金融轉運中心，雲南造幣廠亦配合發行國家法定貨幣及軍費所需貨幣，對維持戰時經濟穩定具有關鍵角色。至公元1949年後，造幣廠納入新政權體系，歷經改組與合併，成為人民幣體系初期的地方鑄幣機構之一。

公元1949年，國共內戰燃至西南，當時雲南由國民黨高級將領盧漢主政，原本被視為西南反攻基地之一。隨著中共勢力於全國迅速擴展，北平、南京、廣州相繼失守，國民政府節節敗退，雲南實際上已成孤立無援之地。盧漢對國民政府漸生疑慮，在中共加強統戰與軍事壓力下，最終於公元1949年12月9日宣佈起義，接受中共領導。此舉不僅終結了國民黨在雲南的統治，也使中共完成對中國大陸除西藏外的統一。