1 Yuan Pattern, Memento: Birth of the Republic, gold

The "Memento" dollars — so called from the Latin inscription referencing the founding of the Republic — were struck not as circulating currency but as presentation pieces, likely distributed to officials and foreign dignitaries during the early Republican period. Gold examples occupy an altogether different category from their silver counterparts: almost certainly struck in very small numbers, possibly to order, with no documented official mintage figure surviving.

The absent L&M reference is telling. Eduard Kann's cataloguing of Chinese gold coinage was exhaustive, making his inclusion here — Kann#1553 — the primary anchor for this type's legitimacy and rarity ranking.