Item number: A2929

Year: AD 1937

Material: Copper

Size: 25.9 x 25.9 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 6.45 g

Manufactured by: Pingjin Arsenal

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a coin dated to the 26th year of the Republic of China (AD 1937), though it is, in fact, a pattern 1-cent coin modelled after the version from the 25th year (AD 1936). In response to the growing military threat posed by the Japanese army advancing beyond the Great Wall from its base in Manchukuo, and prior to the formal outbreak of war, the Nationalist Government—represented by Song Zheyuan—established a buffer zone in the provinces of Hebei and Chahar, known as the Hebei-Chahar Political Commission. This coin was struck at the Tianjin Mint, which had been renamed the Pingjin Arsenal (平津修械所) under the authority of the commission.

This specimen is a counterfeit. The most direct evidence lies in the fact that the Hebei-Chahar Political Commission ceased coin production as early as July in the 25th year of the Republic of China (AD 1936).

After establishing the Hebei-Chahar Political Commission in Beiping (now Beijing), Song Zheyuan sought to avoid provoking the Japanese by issuing a coinage modelled after the 1-cent coin produced by the Shanghai Mint. This move allowed the council to assert a degree of economic independence from the Nanjing Nationalist Government. The obverse of the coin features the emblem of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) at its centre. Along the upper edge is the inscription “26th era of the Republic of China,” while the lower edge bears the character “津”, the abbreviation for Tianjin. The outer rim is adorned with a key-pattern design, commonly found on ancient Chinese bronzeware.

The reverse of the coin features a key-pattern border like the obverse. At the centre is an image of a spade money, a form of currency used during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, which was also adopted by the Nationalist Government as the emblem of the Ministry of Finance. Inside the spade coin is the character “財” (finance) in an oracle bone script-inspired style. On either side of the spade coin, the denomination “壹分” (1 cent) is inscribed in Chinese characters.

In addition to the version bearing the character “津” beneath the party emblem, other variants exist in which “津” is inscribed at the centre of the emblem itself, or replaced with characters such as “平” or “平津”. Ultimately, the version selected for mass production in the 25th year of the Republic of China (AD 1936) was the one with the character “平” discreetly positioned between the two legs of the spade money emblem. Approximately 300,000 pieces were minted.

However, shortly after entering circulation, these coins drew criticism from H. H. Kung, Minister of Finance of the Nationalist Government, who condemned them as a disruption to national monetary unification. Under mounting pressure, Song Zheyuan ordered the immediate recall and cessation of production on July 15 of that year.

物件編號: A2929

年代: 公元 1937 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 25.9 x 25.9 x 1.4 mm

重量: 6.45 g

製造地: 平津修械所

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚標示為民國26年 (公元1937年)，實則是模仿民國25年 (公元1936年)，面對日軍以滿洲國為據點逐漸跨過長城的軍事威脅之下，尚未準備跟日本正式開戰的國民政府以宋哲元為代表，於察哈爾和河北兩省成立的緩衝區「冀察政務委員會」，以更名為「平津修械所」的天津造幣廠鑄造的壹分樣幣。

本物件為偽造品，最為直接的原因是冀察政務委員會在民國25年(公元1936年) 7月就停止鑄幣。

宋哲元在北平成立「冀察政務委員會」後，為避免激怒日本人決定模仿上海造幣廠發行的壹分硬幣，發行自身的貨幣以標示在經濟上獨立於南京國民政府。錢幣正面為中國國民黨黨徽，上緣鐫刻發行年份「中華民國二十六年」，下緣則是天津的簡稱「津」。外圍以中國古代經常出現在青銅器上的回字紋作為裝飾。

錢幣背面的周圍亦以回字紋作為裝飾，正中間是春秋戰國時代流通，並且被國民政府用作財政部符號的布幣圖騰，布幣內還有仿造甲骨文的「財」字。布幣的兩側以漢字標示面額「壹分」。

除了黨徽下方帶有「津」字的版本外，尚有「津」字打印在黨徽正中央，還有打印「平」或「平津」等不同的版型。最終民國25年 (公元1936年) 投入量產的是「平」字穿插於布幣兩足之間的版型，發行量約有30萬枚。不過這批錢幣流通至市面沒有多久，就招致國民政府財政部長孔祥熙批評為破壞全國貨幣統一。宋哲元在壓力之下，於7月15日立即回收和停止鑄造。