Item number: A3507-2

Year: AD 1906-1956

Material: Gold

Size: 17.0 x 16.6 x 10.2 mm

Weight: 31.35 g

Manufactured by: Tianjuxing Gold Shop, Beijing

Provenance: Stacks Bowers 2025

This is a gold ingot, probably cast between the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign and the 45th year of the Republic of China (AD 1906–1956), by the Tianjuxing Gold Shop in Beijing, weighing approximately one tael.

The ingot is shaped as a five-petalled flower, resembling an abstract plum blossom, a form already recorded in Dream of the Red Chamber, where plum-blossom-shaped gold ingots are mentioned. The upper part of this ingot bears a raised inscription in regular script reading “Tianjuxing”, the shop name. Below it is stamped the phrase “zuchi”, indicating pure gold without admixture; in practice, any gold of over 99.2 per cent purity could be so designated. Both inscriptions are enclosed within rectangular cartouches executed in intaglio.

During the Qing dynasty, Beijing, as the imperial capital, was home to members of the imperial clan, high-ranking officials, and elites, and it enjoyed considerable economic prosperity. As early as the Qianlong reign, silver shops such as Dunhualou and Yuanjilou were recorded. The Langfangtou district of Xicheng, including its first to fourth lanes, had been a flourishing commercial area since the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty. In the Qianlong period, iron railings were installed at the entrances of these streets for curfew enforcement, giving rise to the popular name “Dashilan”, which remained the most prosperous area of Beijing throughout the Republican era. The Tianjuxing Gold Shop, located in Langfangtou First Lane, was mentioned in the Dagongbao newspaper in the 32nd year of Guangxu (AD 1906) in connection with a criminal case, suggesting that its establishment may have been earlier. Business records survive at least until AD 1944, with successive managers including Zhang Huchen, Zhang Wenhuan, and Li Ganshan.

In AD 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party entered Beijing, private buying and selling of gold was prohibited. In AD 1956, as part of the socialist transformation of private enterprises, gold shops were merged under public–private partnerships. Most gold products were either exchanged through banks or requisitioned by the government for remelting. By AD 1966, all such joint enterprises had been converted into socialist state-owned entities and placed under full state ownership.

物件編號: A3507-2

年代: 公元 1906-1956 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 17.0 x 16.6 x 10.2 mm

重量: 31.35 g

製造地: 天聚興金店，北京市

來源: SBP錢幣拍賣 2025

這是一件可能於光緒三十二年至民國四十五年(公元1906-1956年)年間，由位於北京的天聚興金店所鑄的金錠，約重一兩。

金錠呈五瓣花型，似抽象的梅花，《紅樓夢》中便有梅花式金錁的記載。此金錠上方壓印陽刻「天聚興」楷書，為商號名。下方壓印「足赤」，標示成色為無雜質的純金，實際則金含量99.2%以上皆可稱為「足赤」。上下方字銘皆以陰刻長方形包圍。

清代北京作為皇城，皇親國戚、達官顯貴雲集，經濟繁榮。乾隆時期便有銀樓「敦華樓」、「元吉樓」的記載。北京西城區廊房頭、二、三、四條等街區，自明嘉靖年間便商業繁盛，。乾隆年間於街道口設鐵柵欄方便宵禁管理，故俗稱「大柵欄」，至民國時期均為北京最為繁榮之處。位於廊房頭條的「天聚興」號金店則於光緒三十二年(公元1906年)由於刑案而見諸《大公報》，實際開設年可能更早。至公元1944年仍有營業紀錄，歷任經理人有張虎臣、張文桓、李贛山等。公元1949年，中國共產黨進入北京，禁止黃金私買私賣。公元1956年，為了對資本家進行社會主義改造，金店合併，進行公私合營。大多數黃金製品則經銀行兌換或由政府回收融化。公元1966年，所有公私合營企業轉為社會主義全民所有制，收歸國有。