Triton XIX, Lot: 2297. Estimate $2000. Sold for $20000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CHINA, Zhōnghuá Mínguó (Republic of China – Taiwan). 1949-pres. Pattern AV Mace (17mm, 3.10 g, 12h). Chéngdū mint. Dated year 39 of the Republic (AD 1950, though struck late 1949). Bust of Sun Yat-sen left / Ancient square-footed spade coin of Qi Bei(?); legend in Hànzì characters flanking. Graham & Kann 11; L&M 1037; Kann 1585; KM –. In NGC encapsulation AU Details, surface hairlines.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Money Company Hong Kong (4 September 1987), lot 472.

By late 1949, the People’s Liberation Army had driven Nationalist forces into a near route. The Kuomintang realized that their fiat currency would be all but worthless under such disastrous circumstances and so apparently considered striking precious metal coinage to pay their troops. A series of extremely rare patterns were produced at Chéngdū, then the last city in Nationalist hands, from dies originally made to strike the 1940 coinage. The dies were altered to remove the denomination name and to change the date from year 29 to year 39. But the experiment came to naught, as Chéngdū fell to the Communists in December 1949, with the remaining Nationalist forces fleeing to Taiwan soon after.