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1 Yuan Pattern, 'Junk dollar', without sun and birds, copper
| Issuer | Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1933-1936 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Yuan = 1 Dollar |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A two-masted Chinese junk under full sail navigates to the right across a stylized sea rendered with horizontal wave lines. The vessel is depicted in fine detail, with rigging, battened sails, and hull clearly articulated. A single Chinese character appears to the left of the junk and another to the right, together reading 壹圓 (One Yuan), flanking the central device in the open field. The composition is clean and unadorned, without the sun-and-birds motif found on related pattern types, giving this issue a notably austere and modernist aesthetic. |
| Reverse script | Chinese |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
The Junk dollar pattern series of the early 1930s emerged from Nanking government efforts to unify China's chaotic silver currency under a single national standard — a project that consumed years of negotiation between the Finance Ministry, foreign banking advisors, and the Philadelphia and London mints. The copper striking is a trial piece from that process, produced to test dies before committing to silver production runs.
The absence of the sun-and-birds device distinguishes this from the more familiar issued types, pointing to an early die state before the design was finalized. China abandoned the silver standard entirely in 1935 under the currency reform that nationalized silver, rendering the whole pattern program moot before it ever reached full circulation.