Item number: A4675-1, A4675-2

Reference number: Y#345; L&M#110; Kann#624

Year: AD 1934 dated

Material: Stainless steel

The results after XRF testing (A4675-1)

The results after XRF testing (A4675-2)

Size: 38.5 x 38.5 x 39.8 mm (A4675-1) / 38.5 x 38.5 x 30.0 mm (A4675-2)

Weight: 381.55 g (A4675-1) / 291.9 g (A4675-2)

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2008

These are two dies for the Sun Yat-sen “Junk” one-dollar silver coin, comprising the obverse and reverse of the coinage.

The die face presents a mirror image of the finished coin. Centred upon the obverse is a profile portrait of Sun Yat-sen, above which the Chinese legend “Twenty-Third Year of the Republic of China” (中華民國二十三年) arcs along the upper perimeter. The portraiture was adapted from the design submitted by the Italian Mint during the “Solicitation of National Coin Designs” in the seventeenth year of the Republic (AD 1928). The distorted cheek contours and deformed hair locks at the back of the head suggest that this die may represent a clandestine or private issue.

At the centre of the reverse is a sailing Chinese junk under way, flanked by the horizontal characters reading “One Yuan” (壹圓). The depiction of the junk was modelled on the reverse motif of the medal commemorating the completion of the Central Mint in Shanghai in the nineteenth year of the Republic (AD 1930). This motif was designed by Clifford Hewitt, the American Chief Technical Adviser to the Central Mint, whilst the master hubs and dies were executed by John Sinnock, Chief Engraver of the United States Mint at Philadelphia. The simplified, abbreviated lines of the cabin structures similarly point to a private or clandestine striking. During the circulation of the Junk Dollars, regional warlord authorities frequently counterfeited or imitated the Central Mint’s official issues; as these were first identified in Yunnan, numismatists commonly designate them as the “Yunnan variety” (滇版), though their precise origin remains unverified.

Apart from their respective die faces, the two dies used for striking the obverse and reverse are largely identical in structure, save that the shank of the obverse die is longer whilst that of the reverse die is shorter. Surrounding the outer perimeter of each die face is an annular recess termed the rim gutter (or rim cavity), into which displaced metal flows under coining pressure to form the raised protective rim of the struck coin. Between the perimeter of the die face and the die neck is a minute inclined facet termed the bevel (or chamfer), which serves to alleviate edge stress concentration during striking and thus mitigate the hazard of a marginal die break (cud). Situated beneath the bevel is the neck, a short, slightly tapered or extended cylindrical segment. Below the neck lies the shoulder, which inclines outward to transition into the full diameter of the shank. The shank itself consists of a heavy, solid cylinder designed to absorb the principal impact of the blow; it typically incorporates alignment grooves that, in conjunction with a central aperture at the base, establish a keyed mounting structure for securing the die firmly within the coining press machinery.

From the late Qing dynasty to the early Republican era, the Chinese monetary and financial system remained trapped in a dual-track quagmire wherein uncoined silver ingots (taels) and struck silver dollars (yuan) circulated concurrently. Although the Beiyang Government promulgated the National Currency Regulations and minted immense volumes of Yuan Shikai profile silver coins—popularly known as “Yuan Datou”—the substantive standard for wholesale trade, public and private remittances, and foreign exchange settlements across major commercial treaty ports remained governed by fictitious book-account taels of disparate local weights and fineness, such as the Shanghai guiyuan. The exorbitant agio and intricate calculations necessitated by conversions between taels and dollars severely hindered the healthy development of the commodity economy. Following the establishment of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing in AD 1927, the authorities actively began planning a new national currency to reclaim the sovereign minting prerogative usurped by regional warlords and to establish an independent, unified modern financial order. During this period, the government drafted the National Currency Regulations Bill in AD 1928 and commissioned pattern dies from mints across five nations—the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Austria, and Japan—resulting in the experimental striking of the “Year 18 of the Republic (AD 1929) Three-Masted Junk One-Dollar Patterns”; it was subsequently resolved to simplify the design by reducing the three masts to two. Although the government briefly retained Professor Edwin Kemmerer’s Commission of Financial Experts from the United States to plan a transition towards a gold standard, resulting in the experimental striking of the Year 21 of the Republic (AD 1932) “Gold Standard One-Dollar” (the “lower three birds” pattern), this initiative was ultimately abandoned on account of the nation’s impoverishment, an acute lack of gold reserves, and the onset of the Great Depression. Reverting to a silver standard, the Central Mint test-struck the “Year 21 of the Republic (AD 1932) Twin-Masted Three Birds One-Dollar” coin, yet following the 28 January Incident, popular paranoia arose over the design, with the rising sun and soaring gulls being construed as allegorical emblems of the Japanese Rising Sun flag and incoming Japanese warplanes. This political controversy compelled the Ministry of Finance to seal and melt down the vast majority of the “Three Birds” coinage. By AD 1933, spurred by the global depression and local conflict, domestic calls in Shanghai to “Abolish the Tael and Adopt the Dollar” (feiliang gaiyuan) reached a crescendo. On 8 March AD 1933, the Nationalist Government promulgated the Silver Standard Coinage Regulations and, on 6 April AD 1933, formally enacted the abolition of the tael, proscribing the use of uncoined silver that had persisted for nearly five centuries. The twin-masted Junk Dollar, stripped of the contentious sun and birds and minted exclusively by the Central Mint, was officially established as the statutory silver-standard national currency, with a legal weight of 26.6971 grammes, a fineness of 880‰, and a pure silver content of 23.493448 grammes.

In the twenty-second year of the Republic (AD 1933), over forty-six million Junk Dollars were placed into circulation, establishing a robust operational foundation. From the twenty-third year of the Republic (AD 1934) onwards, the coin largely retained the original technical specifications, merely updating the obverse legend to “Twenty-Third Year of the Republic of China”. Production under this date became the principal mintage from October of that year and continued until the close of AD 1935, with the total output bearing this date approaching one hundred million pieces (approximately 98.7 million), rendering it the most extensively minted, uniformly struck, and widely circulated machine-struck silver dollar in modern Chinese history. To ensure that the credit of the new national currency was unimpeachable and sufficient to displace traditional taels and disparate provincial silver dollars, the Central Mint enforced rigorous quality control. All dies were reproduced from master hubs prepared by the United States Mint at Philadelphia. Following the coining process, each individual coin was subjected to exhaustive inspections involving precision weighing, visual scrutiny, and ring testing for acoustic resonance, resulting in a rejection rate of around 15 per cent. Operating at high efficiency for ten hours daily, the mint achieved an average daily output of 210,000 coins, whilst the working lifespan of the dies rose from an initial 40,000–60,000 strikes to upwards of 200,000. In numismatic variety studies, the noted numismatist Eduard Kann categorised the Year 23 Junk Dollars into a “regular variety” with a raised rim approximately one millimetre wide and a “sub-variety” with a narrower rim of about half a millimetre; subtle variations also exist in the calligraphic strokes of the character yuan (圓), the wave patterns, the anchor contours, and the deck lines on the reverse. Their precise craftsmanship and uniform fineness successfully consolidated the achievements of the reform abolishing the tael.

Nevertheless, the silver standard anchored by the Junk Dollar endured for barely two years. In the early 1930s, the principal Western capitalist economies abandoned the precious-metal standard in favour of managed paper-currency systems, relegating silver to an ordinary global commodity. In AD 1934, seeking to alleviate the domestic strains of the Great Depression and appease the political lobby of western silver-mining states, the Roosevelt administration passed the Silver Purchase Act to acquire silver at inflated prices, triggering a precipitous surge in the world market price of silver. Because China was then the only major nation adhering to the silver standard, speculative capital and foreign banks stationed in China aggressively drained domestic silver reserves to ship bullion abroad; in AD 1934 alone, the net legal outflow of silver from China exceeded 250 million yuan, precipitating the catastrophic “International Silver Crisis”. This haemorrhaging of silver plunged the domestic economy into severe deflation, extreme credit stringency, collapsing price levels, and widespread commercial bankruptcies, leaving the fledgling silver standard on the brink of reserve exhaustion. At this critical juncture, resisting Japanese militarist attempts to subjugate the Chinese currency within a yen bloc, and assisted by the diplomatic mediation of the British economic mission under Sir Frederick Leith-Ross and the United States Treasury, the Nationalist Government proclaimed the “Fabi (Legal Tender) Reform” on 4 November AD 1935. This measure decreed the nationalisation of silver, prohibited the circulation of silver dollars, and established inconvertible banknotes issued by the Central Bank of China, the Bank of China, and the Bank of Communications (later joined by the Farmers Bank of China) as sole legal tender. Although the Central Mint had already prepared dies for the Year 24 Junk Dollars and half-dollar denominations, and subsequently commissioned the Philadelphia Mint to prepare patterns for the reduced-size Year 25 Junk and spade-coin token silver issues, none were released into general circulation under the new managed-currency regime. The government recalled over 400 million circulating silver dollars, melting them into more than 200 million ounces of silver bullion to sell to the United States under the Sino-American Silver Agreement in exchange for foreign currency reserves and gold credits. This substantial reserve not only enabled the fabi to maintain exchange-rate parity pegged to sterling and the US dollar, but also provided the indispensable financial and material foundation for procuring military materiel during the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan, bringing the Junk Dollar’s career as legal tender to a close.

More than a decade after its departure from circulation, amidst the collapse of the Nationalist forces in the twilight of the Chinese Civil War in AD 1949, successive paper currencies—the fabi and the Gold Yuan—suffered utter insolvency under ruinous hyperinflation. With paper money reduced to waste paper and rejected by soldiers and civilians alike, the marketplace spontaneously reverted to settling transactions in silver dollars. Retiring to Guangzhou, the desperate Nationalist authorities sought to revive monetary confidence by proclaiming in early July AD 1949 the “Early Restoration of the Silver Dollar Standard”, resuming the mass production of Junk Dollars and related coinage. Pressed by time, the administration could not design new dies; whilst instructing the Guangdong Provincial Mint to rehabilitate its machinery, it placed an emergency order with the United States mints in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco for thirty million Year 23 Junk Dollars to be shipped to Hong Kong. Simultaneously, the Chengdu Mint, the Taipei Mint, and authorities in Yunnan worked unceasingly using machinery evacuated from Shanghai and original Year 23 dies, yielding a collective restrike total exceeding forty-five million coins in AD 1949. Nonetheless, monetary expedients could not arrest military and political collapse; as the People’s Liberation Army advanced rapidly southward and the Nationalist regime fled mainland China, restriking operations in Guangzhou and Chengdu ceased abruptly. In total, historical production of the Junk Dollar approached nearly two hundred million pieces, marking it as the final widely circulated precious-metal standard coin in modern China.

物件編號: A4675-1, A4675-2

參考書目編號: Y#345; L&M#110; Kann#624

年代: 標示為公元 1934 年

材質: 不鏽鋼

XRF分析結果(A4675-1)

XRF分析結果(A4675-2)

尺寸: 38.5 x 38.5 x 39.8 mm (A4675-1) / 38.5 x 38.5 x 30.0 mm (A4675-2)

重量: 381.55 g (A4675-1) / 291.9 g (A4675-2)

來源: 福君錢幣 2008

這是兩件孫像船洋銀幣一圓模具，包含該錢幣的正背面。

模面為該幣成品的鏡像。中央是孫中山側面像。上方環列中文「中華民國二十三年」。肖像修改自民國十七年「國幣徵集」中，義大利造幣廠的設計。頰肉變形，腦後髮絲扭曲，或為私鑄。

背面中央是正在航行的戎克帆船。兩側橫列「壹圓」。帆船圖像參考的是民國十九年（公元1930年），上海中央造幣廠竣工紀念章的背圖。該圖為中央造幣廠美籍總技師赫維特（Clifford Hewitt）所設計，祖模模具則為美國費城鑄幣廠總雕刻師辛諾克（John Sinnock）所製。船艙線條簡省，或為私鑄。船洋通行時，地方實力派常仿造中央造幣廠船洋自行私鑄，由於首見於雲南，常稱為「滇版」，實際出處不明。

壓印正背面的兩個模具，形制除模面外基本一致，惟正面模身較長，背面模身較短。其模面外緣均有一圈凹溝，稱為緣槽（Rim Gutter / Rim Cavity），金屬受擠壓流入此溝槽後，形成錢幣外側凸起的保護邊環（Rim）。模面邊緣延伸至模頸之間，有一的微小的傾角削面，稱為倒角（Bevel / Chamfer），有助於在壓印時降低邊緣應力集中，減少邊緣崩裂（Cud）的風險。模頸則位於倒角下方，為稍作收窄或延伸的短圓柱段。模頸下方為模肩，稍微傾斜並擴增至模身的寬度。模身則為厚重的圓柱，為承受衝擊的主體，通常還會有凹槽，與模座端的中央圓孔一同提供固定於機械上的榫卯結構。

清末至民國初年，中國貨幣金融體系長期處於稱量銀兩與機制銀圓並行的紊亂割裂狀態，儘管北洋政府時期曾頒布《國幣條例》並大量鑄造俗稱「袁大頭」的袁世凱像銀幣，但各大商埠在大宗交易、公私款項及外匯結算上，仍普遍以各地平砝成色各異的虛銀兩（如上海規元）為實質記帳本位，繁複的兩元折算與貼水虧耗極大掣肘了商品經濟的健康發展。公元1927年南京國民政府成立後，為收歸被各省軍閥分割的鑄幣專權並建立獨立統一的現代金融秩序，開始積極籌劃新國幣。在此期間，政府曾於公元1928年研擬《國幣條例草案》並向英、美、意、奧、日五國造幣廠比稿試鑄「民國十八年三帆壹圓樣幣」，後決定刪繁就簡改為雙帆；其後雖一度聘請美國甘末爾（Kemmerer）財政專家委員會規劃過渡至金本位制，並試製了「民國二十一年金本位幣壹圓」（即下三鳥樣幣），終因國家貧弱、黃金儲備極度匱乏及大蕭條衝擊而作罷。轉向銀本位後，中央造幣廠於公元1932年試鑄「民國二十一年雙帆三鳥壹圓」，卻因一二八事變後社會輿論穿鑿附會，將幣面朝陽與海鷗影射為日軍侵華戰機與太陽旗而引發政治風波，被迫將絕大部分三鳥幣封存熔毀。至公元1933年，受全球經濟蕭條與戰事影響，上海各界「廢兩改元」呼聲高漲，國民政府於公元1933年3月8日頒布《銀本位幣鑄造條例》，並於4月6日正式施行「廢兩改元」，明令停用行用近五百年的銀兩制度，正式確立由中央造幣廠專鑄、剔除旭日與飛鳥的雙帆船洋為法定銀本位國幣，法重26.6971克、成色880‰、含純銀23.493448克。

民國二十二年（公元1933年），四千六百餘萬枚船洋投入市場，奠定流通基礎。民國二十三年（公元1934年）起基本沿用原幣型規格，僅將正面紀年更改為「中華民國二十三年」，並自當年10月起成為出廠主軸，持續生產至公元1935年底，該年份生產總額即逼近一億枚（約九千八百七十餘萬枚），成為近代中國鑄行量最大、版面最規整且普及最廣的機制銀元。為確保新國幣的信用足以徹底取代舊銀兩與雜版銀元，中央造幣廠對質量控管極為嚴苛，幣模全數由美國費城造幣廠原模複製而來，衝壓完成後每枚銀幣均須經過精準稱重、目視外觀與敲擊聽音等繁複檢驗，次品淘汰率高達15%；當時造幣廠以每日十小時的高效運作，日均產出達二十一萬枚，模具平均衝壓壽命亦從初期數萬枚提升至二十餘萬枚。在泉界版別研究中，知名錢幣學家耿愛德（Eduard Kann）依據邊道凸緣將民國二十三年船洋劃分為寬緣約一毫米的「正版」與窄緣約半毫米的「副版」，其中，背面的「圓」字筆觸、水波起伏、船錨輪廓及甲板刻畫上亦存在細微差異，其規整的做工與劃一的成色成功鞏固了廢兩改元的成果。

然而，「船洋」所奠定的銀本位僅維持了短短兩年多。公元1930年代初西方主要資本主義國家先後放棄貴金屬本位而轉向管理紙幣制度，使白銀徹底淪為國際普通商品；公元1934年美國羅斯福政府為緩解國內經濟大蕭條壓力並迎合產銀州政治勢力，頒布《購銀法案》高價收購白銀，直接促成國際銀價暴漲。由於中國是當時全球唯一的銀本位大國，國際投機資本與在華外資銀行紛紛瘋狂收購中國白銀裝船運往海外，僅公元1934年中國合法白銀淨流出便超過兩億五千萬元，釀成空前嚴重的「國際白銀風潮」。白銀的巨額失血使國內市場驟陷通貨緊縮、銀根奇緊、物價暴跌與商民破產倒閉的骨牌效應，剛確立的銀本位制度面臨儲備罄盡的絕境。在此存亡關頭，國民政府排除日本軍國主義企圖將中國納入日圓體系的干擾，在英國李滋·羅斯（Frederick Leith-Ross）財政使團與美國財政部的斡旋下，於公元1935年11月4日宣布實行「法幣改革」，通令白銀國有化並禁止銀圓流通，改以中央、中國、交通三家銀行（後增加農民銀行）發行的紙幣為無限法償的法定貨幣。雖然當時中央造幣廠已備妥民國二十四年帆船銀幣與中圓輔幣的模具，甚至後續委託美國費城造幣廠試製了民國二十五年小型帆船與布圖名目銀幣樣幣，但在法幣管理通貨制確立後均未獲正式發行；國民政府將市面收兌的四億餘枚銀圓熔鑄為兩億多盎司白銀，依《中美白銀協定》售予美國以換取的外匯儲備與信用貸款，這筆巨資不僅使法幣得以盯住英鎊與美元維持匯率穩定，更為日後抗日戰爭的物資採購與長期抗戰奠定了決定性的金融物力基礎，船洋也由此褪去法定流通貨幣的身分。

退出市場流通十餘年後，公元1949年國共內戰末期，國民黨全線潰退，接連發行的法幣與金圓券在惡性通貨膨脹摧殘下信用完全崩潰，紙幣形同廢紙，軍民普遍拒收，市場自發性重回以銀圓計價交易。退據廣州的國民政府為輓救垂死政局、勉力重建幣信，於公元1949年7月初宣布「提先恢復銀元本位」，再度啟動船洋等銀幣的大量鑄造。在緊迫的局勢下，政府無暇重新設計幣模，除委託廣東省造幣廠修復舊機器的同時，更緊急向美國費城、丹佛與舊金山三座造幣廠訂製三千萬枚民國二十三年版船洋運抵香港，成都造幣廠、台北造幣廠以及雲南亦利用上海遷來的機器與舊模日夜趕鑄，使各造幣廠在公元1949年重鑄的二十三年船洋累計超過四千五百萬枚。然而，經濟手段終究無法逆轉政治與軍事的潰敗，隨著解放軍迅速南進與國民黨政權撤離大陸，廣州與成都等地的重鑄工作旋即戛然而止。歷史上船洋最終累計生產逼近兩億枚，是最後一種廣泛流通的貴金屬主幣。