This
week’s preview from our August 14-16 Hong Kong Auction (to be held at the Mira
Hotel in Hong Kong) is an absolutely beautifully toned Dragon and Peacock
Pattern Dollar dated Year 12 (1923) and from the Republic of China. Often these
pieces are referred to as “Pu Yi Wedding” dollars, but this is simply not accurate. In fact they are patterns of a proposed
design for a new national coinage. The obverse depicts the national emblem
flanked by peacock left and dragon right, legend above, while the reverse is
the familiar design of a wreath with denomination, small characters variety, at
center. The piece offered in the auction
as lot # 60155 displays beautiful multicolor russet, golden, red and blue hues
which seamlessly blend and transition to each other. Clearly this example sat undisturbed
for a prolonged period of time.
It
is easy to see how one could misinterpret the meaning of this issue, as the Emperor
Pu Yi married his Empress Wanrong and consort Wenxiu both in 1922. The dragon and peacock are facing each other
and do seem to be holding celebratory libations, while the national emblem is
decorated with ribbons. This could very easily be mistaken for a commemorative
issue celebrating the new union, even though it is dated the following
year.
Born
7 February 1906, Pu Yi was the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing dynasty and
subsequently the last Emperor of China. His rule began 14 November 1908 when he
was nearly two years old, but he was forced to abdicate the throne after the
Xinhai Revolution on 12 February 1912.
About five years later he was somewhat restored to power for a brief period
from 1 to 12 July 1917, by the warlord Zhang Xun. Afterwards he resided in the Forbidden
City and in March 1922 marriage arrangements had begun. He eventually married Wanrong and made her
his Empress. On 23 October 1924, a coup
led by warlord Feng Yuxiang took control of Beijing and abolished the Articles
of Favorable Settlement, which expelled Pu Yi from the Forbidden City and made
him a regular citizen of the Republic of China. For a short time he resided in
the Japanese embassy in Beijing.
When
the Japanese invaded and occupied the Manchurian provinces in 1932 they installed
Pu Yi under the title of Datong as the Chief Executive of Manchukuo, a puppet
state of the Empire of Japan. After the end of the second Sino-Japanese war
(World War II in the west) Pu Yi was again deposed. When the People’s Republic
of China was established in 1949 he was tried as a war criminal and imprisoned
for 10 years. While imprisoned he wrote his memoirs and became a member of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s
Congress.
We
are no longer accepting consignments for our August Hong Kong auction. We are
however currently taking consignments of world and ancient coins and world
paper money for our October Collectors Choice Online Auction (CCO), our January
2018 New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) Auction, and our
April 2018 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. If you are interested in consigning your
coins and paper currency (whether a whole collection or a single rarity) be
sure to contact one of our consignment directors.
