Item number: M447

Year: AD 1981

Material: Gold (.916) (M447-1)；Silver (.970) (M447-2)

Size: 25.0 x 25.0 mm (M447-1)；30.0 x 30.0 mm (M447-2)

Weight: 13.4 g (M447-1)；14.0 g (M447-2)

Provenance: Chang Ming-Chuan Collection 2023

This was a set of gold and silver commemorative medals marking the 70th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. In AD 1981, their manufacture was authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and they were issued for overseas distribution.

The obverse and reverse of the gold and silver medals bear identical designs. The inscriptions and central motifs were treated with a sandblasted finish, while the remaining surfaces were mirror-polished using technology introduced in AD 1978. The gold medal is of smaller diameter, while the silver medal is larger. The obverse corresponds to that of the “70th Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution Commemorative Gold Coin,” featuring a frontal half-length portrait of Sun Yat-sen wearing a Zhongshan suit. This design derives from a photographic portrait of Sun Yat-sen taken on 15 November AD 1922 at the Boer Studio in Shanghai, and is among the most widely used representations of Sun Yat-sen by both the governments of the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China. Around the upper edge is the simplified Chinese inscription “纪念辛亥革命七十周年” (Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution). Around the lower edge is “1911–1981,” indicating the year of the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution and its 70th anniversary.

The reverse is similar to that of the “70th Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution Commemorative Silver Coin.” At the centre is the Tomb of the Seventy-Two Martyrs and its pavilion, located in Huanghuagang Park in Guangzhou. Around the upper edge is an inscription in small seal script reading “辛亥三月廿九廣州革命烈士碑” (Memorial Stele to the Revolutionary Martyrs of Guangzhou on the 29th day of the third lunar month in the Xinhai year). “The 29th day of the third lunar month in the Xinhai year” refers to the 29th day of the third month of the third year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing dynasty, equivalent to 27 April AD 1911. This date marks the outbreak of the Guangzhou Huanghuagang Uprising, and in commemoration of this event, 29 March has since been observed as Youth Day in the Republic of China. Both obverse and reverse have relief rim, and the edges are reeded.

The Huanghuagang Uprising broke out on the 29th day of the third lunar month of the third year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing dynasty (27 April AD 1911). At that time, the Tongmenghui, seeking to accelerate the overthrow of the Qing court, planned another armed uprising in Guangzhou. The operation was coordinated by Huang Xing, who mobilised revolutionary activists from various provinces, with the original plan being to seize the Viceroy of Liangguang through coordinated action from within and without. On the eve of the operation, however, the plan was leaked and Qing forces were placed on high alert. Despite this, the revolutionaries decided to launch the uprising ahead of schedule. On the day of the uprising, the suicide squad charged into the area around the Viceroy’s office and engaged in fierce fighting, but ultimately failed due to being heavily outnumbered. Most participants were killed on the spot or captured and subsequently executed. Afterwards, Qing forces hastily buried the bodies at the site. Revolutionary comrades later searched for and recovered the remains, collecting a total of seventy-two bodies, who came to be known to posterity as the “Seventy-Two Martyrs of Huanghuagang.”

Although the uprising ended in failure, it caused a profound shock throughout society. The accounts of the martyrs’ heroic sacrifices spread widely and significantly galvanised anti-Qing revolutionary sentiment across the country. It has since been regarded as one of the most crucial episodes of spiritual mobilisation prior to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution. After the establishment of the Republic of China, the site where the martyrs were buried was formally developed into the Huanghuagang Martyrs’ Cemetery in Guangzhou, with the erection of memorial steles and shrines and the holding of spring and autumn commemorative rites. Sun Yat-sen personally composed elegiac couplets and inscriptions and planted Casuarina trees as grave markers, thereby shaping the site into a symbol of the spirit of revolutionary sacrifice. Thereafter, the “Seventy-Two Martyrs of Huanghuagang” became not only an important collective memory in the history of modern Chinese revolution, but also a significant symbol of republicanism and nationalism.

In AD 1981, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, the People’s Republic of China issued one set each of commemorative gold and silver coins and gold and silver medals. The coins were struck by the Shanghai Mint and issued by the People’s Bank of China. The gold and silver medals were produced by the Beijing Jewellery Branch of the China National Arts and Crafts Import and Export Corporation, a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the State Council, and were entrusted for distribution to Star Art Gems Enterprise Pte Ltd of Singapore, for sale in Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, and other locations. Star Art Gems was founded in Singapore in AD 1978 by Han Kangyuan, managing director of Progressive Shipping Enterprises; further details remain unclear.

In AD 1981, Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening-Up policies were gaining momentum. Under the “dual-track pricing system,” state-owned enterprises began gradually to expand their scope of operations. This set of gold and silver medals may therefore be understood as a product that state-owned enterprises attempted to introduce into overseas markets during the reform process. Unlike commemorative coins, the issuance of commemorative medals was not subject to the same level of regulatory approval, requiring only that they not bear a state name, institutional name, or denomination. At the same time, the issue may also have been intended to support united front work, competing with narratives across the Taiwan Strait concerning the “70th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China.” The commemorative coin set was issued in a limited quantity of 5,000 gold coins and 10,000 silver coins, but only just over 1,000 sets were sold. The gold and silver medal set was issued in limited quantities of 6,000 gold medals and 15,000 silver medals; according to available sources, only 1,338 sets were sold. Several decades later, owing to their fine workmanship and relative scarcity on the market, these items instead became popular collectibles. Because the eligibility requirements for issuing commemorative medals were relatively lax, practices gradually emerged in which various commemorative coins were stripped of their state names, institutional names, and denominations and reintroduced to the market under altered designations, leading to a proliferation of commemorative medals. In AD 2017, the Currency, Gold and Silver Bureau of the People’s Bank of China issued the “Urgent Notice on Strengthening the Management of Numismatic Derivatives” to the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation and the China Gold Coin Corporation, requiring an end to the practice of “passing medals off as coins” for profit, after which the phenomenon gradually subsided.

物件編號: M447

年代: 公元 1981 年

材質: 黃金 (916‰) (M447-1)；白銀 (970‰) (M447-2)

尺寸: 25.0 x 25.0 mm (M447-1)；30.0 x 30.0 mm (M447-2)

重量: 13.4 g (M447-1)；14.0 g (M447-2)

來源: 張明泉 2023

這是一套辛亥革命70周年紀念金銀章，於公元1981年時，由中華人民共和國國務院對外貿易部所授權製造，在海外發行。

金銀章的正背面圖樣對應圖樣均相同，鑄字及章圖經噴砂處理，其餘表面則由公元1978年所引進的技術，經鏡面處理，唯金章尺寸較小，銀章較大。正面與「辛亥革命70周年紀念金幣」之正面同，為國父孫中山之正面半身像，身著中山裝。其設計源於孫中山在公元1922年11月15日，於上海波爾照相館拍攝的肖像照，也是中華民國與中華人民共和國政府所最為廣泛使用的孫中山像之一。上方環列簡體中文章銘「纪念辛亥革命七十周年」。下方環列「1911－1981」，即辛亥革命報發起，迄於70周年之年份。

背面與「辛亥革命70周年紀念銀幣」之背面類似，中央為位於廣州黃花崗公園的七十二烈士墓暨墓亭。上方環列小篆「辛亥三月廿九廣州革命烈士碑」。「辛亥三月廿九」即清宣統三年三月二十九日，歲次辛亥，等於公元1911年4月27日。該日為廣州華花崗起義的爆發日，為紀念此事，3月29日迄今仍為中華民國青年節。正背面章緣均有環，稜為齒邊(reeded)。

黃花崗起義爆發於清宣統三年三月二十九日(公元1911年4月27日)。當時同盟會為加速推翻清廷，策劃再次於廣州發動武裝起義，由黃興統籌，集結各省革命志士，原計畫裡應外合奪取兩廣總督署。然而行動前夕消息洩漏，清軍戒備森嚴，革命黨人仍決定提前起事。起義當日，敢死隊突入總督署一帶激戰，終因寡不敵眾而失敗，多數參與者當場犧牲或被捕處決。事後清軍就地草草掩埋遺體，後經革命同志尋訪收殮，共得七十二具遺骸，成為後世所稱的「黃花崗七十二烈士」。

起義雖然失敗，卻在社會上引發極大震撼，烈士壯烈犧牲的事蹟廣泛傳播，顯著激發了各地反清革命的情緒，被視為辛亥革命爆發前最關鍵的精神動員之一。中華民國成立後，廣州將安葬烈士之地正式闢建為黃花崗烈士陵園，並立碑建祠，春秋致祭；孫中山親題輓聯與碑文，並手植馬尾松以作墓樹，將其塑造成革命犧牲精神的象徵。此後，「黃花崗七十二烈士」既是近代中國革命史中的重要集體記憶，也成為共和與民族主義的重要象徵。

公元1981年，中華人民共和國為紀念辛亥革命70周年，發行紀念金銀幣與金銀章各一套。金銀幣由上海造幣廠鑄造，中國人民銀行發行。金銀章由國務院對外貿易部下轄的國營公司，中國工藝品進出口總公司的北京首飾分公司所製作，委由新加坡星藝寶石企業私人有限公司，於香港、泰國、菲律賓、日本、新加坡等地發行。星藝寶石公司由進步船務企業董事經理韓康元，於公元1978年在新加坡創立，詳情不明。

公元1981年正逢鄧小平的改革開放政策方興未艾，在「價格雙軌制」之下，國營企業開始逐步擴大經營。該金銀章套可能便是國營企業在改革過程中，嘗試向海外市場所投放的產品，因為紀念章的發行毋須受到紀念幣發行的審核限制，僅須注意不得加註國號、行號及幣值。同時也可能是配合統戰工作，以與海峽對岸中華民國的「中華民國建國七十周年」論述相競逐。該金銀套幣發行金幣限量5,000枚，銀幣10,000枚，但僅售出一千餘組；金銀套章發行金章限量6,000枚，銀章15,000枚，據來源稱僅售出1,338組。數十年後，由於製作精美，又少見於市場，反成為熱門的藏品。由於紀念章的發行資格寬鬆，後逐漸出現將各種紀念幣削去國號、行號及幣值，改易名義投入市場銷售的行為，使得紀念章的發行逐漸泛濫，公元2017年，中國人民銀行貨幣金銀局向中國印鈔造幣總公司和中國金幣總公司發出《關於加強錢幣衍生品管理的緊急通知》，要求停止「以章充幣」，謀取利益的行為，相關現象才逐漸平息。