50 Yuan 50th Anniversary - United Nations

Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations founding in San Francisco in June 1945, this coin appeared during a period when China was actively rehabilitating its international image following the isolation that followed Tiananmen in 1989. Beijing had been a UN founding member and permanent Security Council member since 1971 — replacing the Republic of China on Taiwan in a vote that the U.S. had unsuccessfully opposed. The commemorative framing carried real diplomatic weight.

Mintage for Chinese gold commemoratives of this period was typically held below 5,000 pieces, with many issues seeing even lower actual distribution through the China Gold Coin Corporation.