Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事!
ROC,
Victory Over Japan Memorial Hall
20 Cents Silver Coin,
ROC Era 38,
Yunnan Province
民國
勝利堂貳角銀幣
民國三十八年
雲南省造
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 The coin was withdrawn from production shortly after issuance due to the regime change.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.