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2000 Yuan Qi Baishi - Fruit Baskets
| Issuer | People's Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1000 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese |
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| Reverse description | Central design features a finely detailed wicker basket filled with peaches and other fruits, suspended by a braided cord, after a painting by Qi Baishi. Lush chrysanthemum blossoms with broad leaves occupy the lower field, rendered in the artist's distinctive freehand ink style translated into engraved relief. The denomination 2000 appears in the right field in Arabic numerals. An inscription in Chinese characters reading 齐白石画 (Painting by Qi Baishi) is placed in the upper left field. The design is set against a mirror-polished proof background. |
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| Additional information |
Qi Baishi died in 1957, and by the late 1990s the People's Bank had issued several commemorative series drawing on his work — part of a broader push to market Chinese cultural coinage internationally during a period when the country was aggressively expanding its presence in the collector coin market ahead of the Hong Kong handover. The 1000-gram .999 fine format placed this squarely in the trophy-piece category, produced in extremely limited quantities for institutional buyers and high-end collectors rather than anything approaching circulation.
Qi Baishi's reputation rested heavily on his ability to render humble subjects — shrimp, vegetables, fruit — with ink economy that took decades to develop. He didn't receive formal training until his thirties.