50 Fen Support the Republic

Yunnan's "Support the Republic" coinage was struck in direct response to the Yunnan Revolt of 1915–16, when General Cai E led the province in open military resistance to Yuan Shikai's attempt to restore the imperial system and crown himself emperor. The provincial mint issued these pieces to assert political legitimacy and fund the National Protection Army's campaign — one of the few instances in Chinese numismatic history where a coin's inscription is an explicit declaration of armed opposition to the central government.

Yuan died in June 1916 before the conflict fully resolved, leaving these coins as artifacts of a rebellion that outlasted its target.