Currently a global superpower, the nation of China has seen its fair share of change since its ancient beginnings. That change has stemmed from conflict at the very tail end of the 19th century leading into halfway through the 20th century. From war and conflict arises inflation, which leads us to this next entry in the 100 Greatest Modern World Coins series as issued by Whitman Publishing. With authors Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker, we will take a look at this top 15 pick that came into existence due to an economic downturn and localized solutions to a much greater problem.
#15 - China 1949 Kweichow 50 Cents
China saw a significant period of conflict starting in 1899-1901 with the Boxer Rebellion. The Qing dynasty fell in 1912 followed by the modernization of the nation leading to the Warlord Era that lasted from 1916 to 1928. They had a civil war from 1927-1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937-1945, and the continuation of the civil war, or Communist Revolution, from 1945-1949. It is safe to say that all that conflict led to an economic decline that during the 1940s, caused inflation that weakened Chinese paper currency.
Local provinces were compelled to come up with solutions. One of those solutions was to create their own coinage to help with the commercial needs of the people. One of these provinces was called Kweichow. Land-locked and composed of mountainous regions, it was located in the southern part of China. The province, who had once before created the “auto dollar” during the Warlord Era, took control of their fate and created their own coins. “Made rare by war,” according to authors Morgan and Walker, this silver half dollar is a fractional denomination linked to the Kweichow “Bamboo Dollar” that was issued under the authority of governor Kuo Tseng Lun. In addition to this silver half dollar featuring the “50” on the reverse, there is also a 20-cent piece with a similar design and a “20” replacing the “50.”
The Republic mentioned in the coin’s legend on the obverse celebrated its 38th anniversary of rule in 1949 as it was founded in 1911 at the end of the Qing dynasty. However, Communists under Mao Zedong, the leader of China’s Communist Party, took control of the mainland forcing Nationalists to flee. A majority of the coins issued under the Nationalists, including those of Kweichow, were seized and repurposed by the Communists. This is why the China 1949 Kweichow 50 Cents is rare with surviving specimens recovered from being buried or hidden.
In a Stack’s Bowers Hong Kong Showcase Auction in 2014, this coin was graded an AU-58 by NGC where it brought $358,500.