This
week’s highlight from our August 13-15 Hong Kong Auction (to be held at the
Mira Hotel in Hong Kong) is a very rare Kwantung “Five Goats” pattern cent
dated 25th year (1936) of the Republic of China. It was issued by Governor Chen
Jitang. The obverse depicts five goats grazing in a mountainous pass, two line inscription
above, decorative border around central hole, all within a slanted quasi-Greek
border. The reverse is more simplistic,
displaying a stalk of rice left, legend right, with Wuyang diagram
(representing the Kwangtung regime) surrounding the central hole, all within
floral vine border. Prepared and struck in Kwangtung (Guangdong), these pattern-only
issues are also referred to as “Wuyang” cents, from the ancient legend of the
Wuyang fairy. They never made it into full production as Governor Chen was
forced to resign and fled to Hong Kong in July 1936 after his biggest supporter
Hu Manmin passed away a couple of months earlier.
Chen
became governor in 1931 and was fondly called the Celestial King of the South. Despite
being forced out of his position, he was very well liked and made enormous
contributions to the development of his province. He was instrumental in
modernizing the cities and also oversaw the establishment of modern public
school systems, including prestigious colleges and universities such as Sun
Yat-Sen University. The people of his province referred to this period as the
Golden Age of Kwangtung.
We
are no longer accepting consignments for our August Hong Kong auction. We are
however taking consignments of world and ancient coins and world paper money
for our October Collectors Choice Online (CCO), our January 2018 New York
International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) and our April 2018 Hong Kong
Showcase Auctions. 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.
