CHINA-REPUBLIC 1929 Sun Yat Sen One Dollar Silver Pattern, globe with 2 crossed flags, L&M88, K610, KM-Pn 106, NGC MS65. NC Collection. Highest graded of this variety

A NGC MS63 (W&B Capital Collection) was sold in 2012 by Champion private transaction.

One of the most imaginative designs ever used on a Chinese coin, the 1929 Flags and Globe Dollar is also one of the rarest. It was the first Chinese coin to feature a map or globe as part of its design. The first coins actually put into circulation with a map or globe design were the dollar and 20 cent coins issued by the Chinese Soviet Republic in 1932. The only other example of this use is on various coins issued for Taiwan beginning in 1949. The Sun Yat Sen Flag and Globe Dollar was one of several types of dollars (and a few minor coins) made in 1929, all of which are patterns. The unreleased 1951 edition of Kalgan Shih's catalog of Chinese coins says only a few pieces were known to exist. H. Chang's catalog of Chinese dollars says less than 15 pieces are known. U.S. coin dealer, Jess Peters, sold two different specimens of this coin - Kann's own example in his 1972 fixed price list, and another example in his June 1973 auction. The two pieces can be identified by toning marks. More recently, Cheng Xuan November 2005 and China Guardian November 2010 sales each had an example of this coin, and all four coins are different from each other. The piece shown in the Dong Wenchao catalog is also different from these four pieces, as is the coin illustrated here.

According to Eduard Kann, the coin was struck at the Tientsin Mint, though he suggests the dies might have been made overseas. We don't know the source of the attribution to Tientsin, but it was one of the few mints controlled by the Nationalists at that time. The Shanghai Mint was still under construction. The Hangchow Mint was available, as was the Nanking Mint, though the latter was destroyed by fire on 4 June 1929.

The Chinese Economic Bulletin for 7 September 1929 has a curious report stating that the National Treasury was asking for bids to produce new coins from mints in the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Four different coins were to be produced:

1) Sun Yat Sen portrait on the obverse, sailing ship on reverse.

2) Sun Yat Sen portrait obverse, map of China bordered by the national flag.

3) Sun Yat Sen portrait and date 18th year obverse, small carriage reverse.

4) Chiang Kai Shek portrait and date 18th year obverse, small carriage reverse.

The first design is clearly the Sun Yat Sen and junk coins, designs for which were indeed submitted by various foreign mints. The second coin might be the Flags and Globe Dollar. The other two designs, however, are completely unknown. This coin has been recorded by Kann as K 610; by H. Chang as CH 191; and by Lin & Ma as number 88.

NGC MS65