1 Yuan / 1 Dollar Pattern, Founding of the Republic: Yuan Shikai, silver, tall hat

Yuan Shikai's consolidation of power in the early Republic produced several competing pattern designs before the "Fatman" dollar was standardized in 1914. This tall-hat variant — so called for the military headgear depicted rather than the civilian dress of the issued type — was among the rejected candidates, almost certainly killed by the same political calculus that governed every aspect of Yuan's image management. He was acutely sensitive to how his authority was projected on coinage, a concern that proved well-founded given his ill-fated imperial restoration attempt in 1915.

Patterns of this type were struck in very limited numbers at the Tientsin Mint and were never released for circulation.