Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the People's Republic on October 1, 1949, this gold piece was part of a coordinated commemorative program released alongside silver and base-metal issues. The PRC's anniversary coinage of 1999 was produced at a moment of deliberate national consolidation — Hong Kong had reverted to Chinese sovereignty just two years prior, and the state used the jubilee extensively as a unifying political occasion.
The 15.5517g weight is a half-troy-ounce specification, a standard the People's Bank had by then routinely applied to its commemorative gold program since the early 1980s.
Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the People's Republic on October 1, 1949, this gold piece was part of a coordinated commemorative program released alongside silver and base-metal issues. The PRC's anniversary coinage of 1999 was produced at a moment of deliberate national consolidation — Hong Kong had reverted to Chinese sovereignty just two years prior, and the state used the jubilee extensively as a unifying political occasion.
The 15.5517g weight is a half-troy-ounce specification, a standard the People's Bank had by then routinely applied to its commemorative gold program since the early 1980s.