Item number: A2918

Year: AD 1940

Material: Aluminium

Size: 15.9 x 15.9 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 0.6 g

Manufactured by: Shanghai

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a 1-cent coin minted in the 29th year of the Republic of China (AD 1940), commissioned by the Nationalist Government and produced by an American company at a factory located in the Yangpu District of the Shanghai International Settlement. At the time, the outbreak of World War II had driven up the price of nickel, which had previously been used in minting small-denomination coins. In response, the government opted to use aluminium, a more economical alternative, as the primary material for coin production.

The obverse of the coin features the spade money totem, a form of currency that circulated during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and was later adopted by the Nationalist Government as the emblem of the Ministry of Finance. Within the spade-shaped motif is the character 財 (“wealth”), rendered in a style imitating oracle bone script. The outer rim of the coin is decorated with a beaded circle.

The reverse of the coin is similarly adorned with a beaded circle along the outer edge. At the centre, the denomination “壹分” (One Cent) is inscribed vertically in Chinese characters. Along the upper edge, the year of issue, “中華民國二十九年” (29th year of the Republic of China), is arranged in a circular layout using smaller-sized script.

In AD 1940 (the 29th year of the Republic of China), the Second Sino-Japanese War had entered its fourth year. Under mounting Japanese military pressure, the Nationalist Government led by Chiang Kai-shek had relocated its capital to Chongqing in China’s southwestern interior, continuing its resistance from what became known as the wartime rear base. Meanwhile, the former capital Nanjing and the surrounding commercial hub of Shanghai had fallen under the control of the Japanese-backed puppet regime led by Wang Jingwei.

From AD 1937 to 1941, however, Japan remained cautious about provoking Western powers and refrained from occupying the foreign-controlled Shanghai International Settlement. This period, known as the “Solitary Island Era,” saw an influx of refugees and capital seeking shelter from the war, resulting in a paradoxical and distorted economic boom in Shanghai. Despite the ongoing conflict, the Nationalist Government was still able to utilise the International Settlement for intelligence gathering and limited foreign trade.

This precarious status quo ended on December 7, AD 1941, with the outbreak of the Pacific War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Japanese forces launched a full-scale occupation of the Shanghai International Settlement, subsequently transferring its administration to the Wang Jingwei regime. After the Allied victory in World War II in AD 1945, the Western powers relinquished all extraterritorial rights in Shanghai and agreed to return the International Settlement to the Republic of China.

物件編號: A2918

年代: 公元 1940 年

材質: 鋁

尺寸: 15.9 x 15.9 x 1.2 mm

重量: 0.6 g

製造地: 上海

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚民國29年 (公元1940年)，國民政府委託美商在上海公共租界楊浦區的工廠，以鋁為原料鑄造的壹分面額硬幣。彼時隨著第二次世界大戰爆發，國民政府原先鑄造小額硬幣的鎳價上漲，改以更為廉價的鋁為材料鑄幣。

錢幣正面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，布幣裡面還有仿造甲骨文的「財」字。錢幣外圍以珠圈作為裝飾。

錢幣背面的周圍同樣以珠圈裝飾，正中央是漢字直書的面額「壹分」，上緣則是字型較小且環狀排列的年份「中華民國二十九年」。

民國29年 (公元1940年)，中日戰爭全面爆發的第四個年頭，彼時蔣介石領導的國民政府在日本軍事威脅下，已經播遷至重慶為陪都的中國西南大後方繼續對峙。國民政府的舊都南京和商業城市上海周遭則在日本扶植的汪精衛政權控制之下。

公元1937至1941年，彼時日本仍忌憚於歐美各國的外交壓力，不敢輕易佔領西方列強控制的上海公共租界。上海在這段被稱為「孤島時期」，湧入許多躲避戰火的難民和資本，使得上海歷經了畸形的繁榮發展，甚至遠在內陸的國民政府能依靠公共租界進行情報收集乃至跟各國的貿易。

直到公元1941年12月7日，珍珠港事變爆發後，上海公共租界遭到日軍全面的佔領，並且將其主權轉移給汪精衛政權。公元1945年，第二次世界大戰勝利後，歐美列強也放棄上海公共租界，同意將其交還予中華民國。