019: China 1916 Yuan Shi Kai Dollar Silver Ngc Ms63 - Aug 22, 2010 | Champion Macau Auction In Macao
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019: CHINA 1916 Yuan Shi Kai Dollar Silver NGC MS63

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019: CHINA 1916 Yuan Shi Kai Dollar Silver NGC MS63
019: CHINA 1916 Yuan Shi Kai Dollar Silver NGC MS63
Item Details
Description

CHINA-REPUBLIC 1916 Yuan Shih Kai Flying Dragon Silver Dollar, Hat Touches Rim Variety, Kann 664, L&M 945, NGC MS63
There are two different explanations for the Yuan Shih Kai Flying Dragon Silver Dollar, supposedly struck in 1916 to mark Yuan Shih Kai’s enthronement as Emperor Hung Hsien. In his 1981 book, “The Silver Dollars and Taels of China,” prominent Chinese collector, H. Chang relates the story of this coin from an unpublished manuscript history of the Tientsin Mint written in the 1920’s by the mint director, Li Pai-ch’I (Li Baiqi). According to Li, the Italian engraver, L. Giorgi, left China in 1917 after training six Chinese engravers. Late in 1915 or early 1916, Giorgi had engraved the dies for a $10 gold coin with the same flying dragon design, but according to Li, Giorgi did not engrave any dies for a dollar with that design. In 1919 (3 years after Yuan Shih Kai died) Li asked the Chinese engravers at the mint to produce a dollar die with the flying dragon design. An engraver named T’ang Shang-chin produced the best die, and it was used with an obverse die engraved in 1914 by Giorgi, to produce the Yuan Shih Kai Flying Dragon Dollars. These coins were not intended for circulation, but were commemorative coins made for collectors.
In an important article, “The Influence of Yuan Shih Kai On Chinese Coins,” published in 1922, the famous collector of Chinese coins, A. M. Tracey Woodward, writes that the Flying Dragon Dollars were struck at the Tientsin Mint after Yuan’s death, though he doesn’t say exactly when. These dollars were clearly not made during Yuan’s lifetime. In the 1917 article, “Coins of the Republic of China” by Giuseppe Ros, three Hung Hsien coins are recorded, including the gold $10 flying dragon coin, but the flying dragon silver dollar is not mentioned. Ros lived in Tientsin and had connections in the mint. If the coin had been in existence at that time, he would have known about it and would have recorded the coin. Woodward visited the Tientsin Mint in November 1920 and talked with the mint director, who showed him the dies for the $10 gold coin. According to Woodward, at least one pair of dies was made in 1915 or 1916 for the flying dragon dollar, though the dies were not meant for a silver coin, but for a gold medal. Yuan ordered a few such gold pieces made for distribution to his important supporters. Each coin was housed in a specially made case, lined with imperial yellow satin, and measured slightly over four inches square. All of the coins and the dies were sent to Peking, and the dies were reported to have been destroyed. Both the obverse and the reverse dies used to strike these gold medals were different from those used to strike the flying dragon silver dollars, according to Woodward.
So both Chang and Woodward agree that the silver dollars were made later, around 1919 (after 1917 but before 1920). But by Woodward’s account, at least one flying dragon dollar die was made while Giorgi was at the mint, and was probably engraved by Giorgi (though Woodward does not specifically say so). Since those dies were sent to Peking and reportedly destroyed, the statement by Li that new dies were engraved by the Chinese engravers, is almost certainly also true. But this does not explain the “Hat Touches Rim” variety of this coin. Kann lists this variety as an essay, meaning that it is an experimental piece, of which only a few were made, while the regular variety was struck in some quantity. We don’t know on what evidence Kann calls the variety an essay. Perhaps this is based simply on the rarity of the coin. Woodward’s 1922 article on Yuan Shih Kai coins does

Condition
NGC MS63
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019: CHINA 1916 Yuan Shi Kai Dollar Silver NGC MS63

Estimate $12,000 - $24,000
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Starting Price $12,000
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