CHINA-REPUBLIC 1923 Tsao Kun Civilian Clothes Copper Pattern 1 Dollar, Reeded Edge, KANN-677x, NGC MS 63 BN, Ex. Kann/Goodman/YIF Collection, the best grade known currentlyAccording to Li Boqi’s ‘Chinese Commemorative Coins’, “The 1923 Civil Tsao Kun Coin was produced in the 13th year of the Republic of China by the Tientsin Mint, with the same fineness and weight as circulated coins. When Tsao Kun became the President, he bribed congressmen to discuss the Constitution. After the Constitution was established, the Constitution coin was struck featuring Tsao Kun in a dress suit on the obverse and crossed five-color flags with characters “???????” (commemorative the establishment of the Constitution) on the reverse. This is the so-called ‘Civil Tsao’. According to reports, the Tientsin Mint once produced tens of thousands of “Civil Tsao” and sent them to Nanjing, hoping to be used as currency for circulation, to bribe people in the south to seek support, but it was opposed by the Shanghai authority.”The one to be sold in this auction is the finest known and extremely rare one from the 1991 Goodman Collection Auction.

NGC MS 63 BN