Item number: A3457

Year: AD 1933 (AH 1352)

Material: Copper

Size: 31.4 x 31.4 mm

Manufactured by: Kashgar

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. W.K. Burger Collection

This is a 20-Cash copper coin issued on November 12, AD 1933, during a period of widespread rebellion against Jin Shuren’s rule in Xinjiang province. Centred on the important oasis city of Kashgar in southern Xinjiang, the East Turkestan Islamic Republic was established under the leadership of religious figures such as Sabit Damolla and Muhammad Amin, who oversaw the issuance of this coin.

The East Turkestan Islamic Republic lasted for only about three months. During this brief period, it issued banknotes, cloth money, silver coins, and copper coins. The copper coins were primarily produced by overstriking existing planchets taken from copper coins originally issued by the Xinjiang provincial government or by Russia.

The coin is in poor condition, showing significant wear but still retaining identifiable details. The obverse of the coin features a pair of crossed flags—a design element characteristic of Xinjiang’s local coinage since the Republican period. The flag on the left is the Blue Sky with a White Sun banner representing the Nanjing Nationalist Government, while the one on the right is the East Turkestan crescent-and-star standard surrounded by triangular tassells.

As to why the left-side Blue Sky with a White Sun—symbolising Han Chinese authority—was retained in the design, scholars have offered a couple of explanations. One possibility is that local craftsmen simply reused the existing provincial coinage templates. Another interpretation suggests it may have been a deliberate political gesture by the anti-provincial East Turkestan Islamic Republic, intended to signal openness to support from the Nanjing Nationalist Government. Above the crossed flags, the space is inscribed in Chinese characters with the denomination “當紅錢二十文” (Valid Red Money, 20 Cash). Along the bottom edge beneath the horizontal line, the denomination is also given in Chagatai script as “٢٥ فجر” (worth 20 cash).

On the reverse, there is a pair of encircling branches topped with a crescent-and-star emblem symbolising Islam. Within the space enclosed by the branches, the Chagatai script inscription records the Hijri date “۱۳۵۲ سين” (AH 1352). Along the lower edge, the inscriptions read “شارك تۈركىستان كۇمخۇرىيېت ئىسلامىيسى” (East Turkestan Islamic Republic) and “ضرب کاش غر” (Struck in Kashgar).

Since the Xinhai Revolution, remote Xinjiang, under the deliberate isolationist policies of its then-governor Yang Zengxin, retained most of its Qing-era provincial practises, apart from changes to the national title and the flag. In AD 1928, however, Yang Zengxin was assassinated by his subordinates. Control of the military and provincial government was seized in a coup by Jin Shuren, who secured formal recognition as provincial chairman from the Nanjing Nationalist Government.

Under Jin Shuren’s administration, large numbers of Han Chinese migrants from his native Gansu were settled in Xinjiang, fuelling resentment among the indigenous Uyghur population. In AD 1931, rebellion first broke out in Hami in the east and quickly spread to the Uyghur-majority oases of southern Xinjiang. After occupying the city of Kashgar, local Uyghurs declared the independent East Turkestan Islamic Republic, but this regime was crushed within three months by Hui Muslim warlord Ma Zhongying’s forces entering from Gansu.

Its principal leader, Sabit Damolla, was captured and later executed by the new provincial government under Sheng Shicai. Muhammad Amin fled first to Afghanistan, then to Nanjing, where he served as a representative of the Nationalist Government. During the Chinese Civil War, he relocated again to Turkey, from which he continued to advocate for East Turkestan independence.

物件編號: A3457

年代: 公元 1933 年 (回曆 1352 年)

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 31.4 x 31.4 mm

製造地: 喀什

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

這是一枚公元1933年11月12日，趁著新疆全省陷入反抗金樹仁統治的大動亂中，以南疆重要綠洲城市喀什為中心，由沙比提大毛拉和穆罕默德·伊敏等宗教人士為領袖建立的「東突厥斯坦伊斯蘭共和國」所發行的面額20文銅錢。

東突厥斯坦伊斯蘭共和國存續的時間僅有三個月左右，這段期間陸續發行紙鈔、布幣、銀幣和銅幣，其銅幣主要是沿用新疆省政府或俄羅斯使用的銅幣作為幣胚重新打印而成。

錢幣的保存狀況不甚良好，歷經嚴重的磨蝕但是尚能辨識細節。錢幣正面是一對交叉的旗幟設計，為沿襲民國以來新疆當地的鑄幣特色。左側的旗幟是象徵南京國民政府的青天白日旗，右側則是以三角形流蘇包圍的東突厥斯坦星月大纛旗。關於左側象徵漢人政權的青天白日旗為何在設計中保留，除了當地工匠直接沿用省政府舊有的錢幣風格之外，也有學者推斷可能是反抗省政府的東突厥斯坦伊斯蘭共和國為了爭取南京國民政府的支持，所做出的一種政治表態。旗幟上方的空間以漢字打印面額「當紅錢二十文」，下方水平線的底部則以察合台文打印面額「٢٥ فجر」(值二十文錢)。

錢幣背面有一對圍繞的枝條，頂端則有象徵伊斯蘭信仰的星月圖騰。枝條內部的空間以察合台文打印回曆紀年「۱۳۵۲ سين」(1352年)，下緣則是打印政權的名稱「شارك تۈركىستان كۇمخۇرىيېت ئىسلامىيسى」(東突厥斯坦伊斯蘭共和國) 和鑄造地點「ضرب کاش غر」(鑄造於喀什)。

辛亥革命以來，遠在西陲的新疆在彼時主政的楊增新刻意和外界隔絕政策下，除了國號和使用旗幟的轉變，其餘事項基本沿襲清朝建省以來的舊慣。然而公元1928年，楊增新遭到屬下暗殺之後，掌握軍隊的金樹仁發動政變奪得政權，並且得到南京國民政府的追認為省主席。不過新疆在金樹仁主政下大舉開放其老家甘肅的漢人移民，導致世居當地的維吾爾人不滿。公元1931年，位於東邊的哈密率先爆發反抗省政府的民變，不久民變迅速擴散到以維吾爾人為主的南疆綠洲。喀什的維吾爾人在占領城市之後，宣布建立獨立的「東突厥斯坦伊斯蘭共和國」，然而該政權在三個月後就遭到從甘肅進入新疆的回族軍閥馬仲英消滅。主要領導人沙比提大毛拉遭到俘虜，不久被盛世才主持的新省政府處決。穆罕默德·伊敏則逃到阿富汗又輾轉到南京成為國民政府的代表之一，最終於國共內戰之際又遷居於土耳其，並且以土耳其為據點倡議東突厥斯坦的獨立建國運動。