10 Yuan Pattern, Inauguration of Hongxian Emperor, gold, with L.Giorgi

Yuan Shikai's self-proclaimed Hongxian reign lasted 83 days before overwhelming opposition — from provincial warlords, his own generals, and foreign powers withholding recognition — forced him to abandon the imperial project entirely in March 1916. He died four months later. Pattern coinage struck for the abortive coronation was never released, making survivors essentially artifacts of a government that dissolved before it formally began.

The "L. Giorgi" attribution refers to Luigi Giorgi, the Italian engraver employed at the Tientsin Mint whose signature appears on several Yuan-era patterns.