China Red Army Coins 1932-1933

Chinese Red Army Coins (as they are referred to in China or Soviet coins) are quite uncommon to find and even harder without planchet problems or corrosion.

Here are 2 decent pieces I Just obtained. These are from 1932. There are similar ones minted in 1960. 1 cent and 5 cent


This one I also just obtained I had never seen before. I believe its from 1933 200 Cash and quite scarce I haven't seen others in the 5 years I've been collecting Chinese coins.


I hope to eventually acquire some of the silver ones and the 500 cash ones.

Chris

 

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Here is a silver 20 cent dated 1933.

 

That's a very nice one.

 

I have to find mine - they are hiding somewhere as usual...

I didn't really care too much about the 1 and 5 fen and got the restruck version. Believe they are copper plated steel. I do own 200 cash, 500 cash and 2 Jiao in silver early as I realized the prices were climbing drastically. I believe I also have 2 Jiao in copper (maybe a different denomination?)

Will post when I find them... Otherwise there are some pics at omnicoin.

 

Turns out I do own both 200 and 500 cash - I haven't photograph them...

Note that 'Soviet China' is a bit of a generic term. I do have two different types

Jiangxi Soviet - 2 jiao



Szechuan-Shaanxi 500 cash


Old cleaning / poor lighting. I have another coin and it's of a different variety

The next coin is of a much larger debate of it's authenticity - copper 2 jiao

 

Hammer and sickle on all of them. Something tells me they are Communistic coins !!!

 

1960 restrike

 

The silver coin dated 1933, with Communist logo, would surely mean that China was Communist around that time. Those of us interested in modern Chinese history might like to do some homework.

 

I jealous...but not covetous. That being said, I've looked through thousands of Chinese coins but have never found one. Really neat coins.

 

Perhaps it is your time to do some homework.

China at this time was in an internal struggle after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, becoming a Republic state. Warlords soon ruled over various provinces and Sun Yat Sen tried to unify the country with the help of Soviet communists. I believe the Chinese Communist Party formed around 1920s. This proved to be more than difficult as China has historically been corrupted and it got compounded when the ideological leader Sun Yat Sen passed away. However there was more behind this story of why China was forced into this position.

China literally was in pieces as China was carved up by foreign countries. On top of this, Japan has always been a threat. The first Sino Japanese war happened in 1894 - 1895. This was a complete Chinese loss, leading to lose Korea to Japan as well as their reputation. While China at that time had some of the best technology from Germans - corruption meant that warships had their cannons secretly sold for scrap metals and the list of embarrassment went a long way.

From the Eastern end, Japan slowly worked it's way towards inner China and formed Manchukuo in 1932. They even reinstated the last Emperor of China Pu Yi to become the Puppet Emperor. From the Western end at around the same time, the Red Army (later known as the Chinese Communist Party) was fleeing away from the Nationalist Party. This was known the Long March This is easily one of the biggest mistakes the Nationalist Party made as they did not realize how big Japanese threat was.

In 1937, this was when the Japanese setup China to be at war known as the Marco Polo incident. At this point, the National Army had their objectives and priorities completely wrong, literally caught with their pants down.

I'll leave the rest of reading out there. At this point of time when these coins were issued, China was NOT a communist country. In fact it would be a blunt disregard of the chaotic Chinese history in the last century. The Chinese still refer the last century as the most embarrassing era in her history and hold a grudge out there.

 

That was a turbulent period in Chinese history, though I would not agree that China was carved up by foreign countries (excepting Japan). Control of China was contested between the Communists, the National Government of the Republic of China, Japan, and various warlords. The Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek was considered one of the Allied Powers and an ally of the USA in World War II. My father (US Army) fought in the southwestern China Theater advancing with the Nationalists against the Japanese to Kunming, and was stationed in Shanghai in 1946. He stated that while the Nationalists fought the Communists after the defeat of Japan in 1945, warlords controlled much of the country. The Communists took control and established the Peoples Republic of China in 1949.

It was a very complex period of Chinese history and people would have different perspectives depending on where they were situated at the time, or where they are situated now. A good place to start with Chinese history of this period would be the Wikipedia pages for Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Zedong.

Nice coins everyone, thanks for posting all of those.

 

I believe all Chinese will strongly disagree about the presence of foreign countries that tore China apart. The opium war in the mid 1800s literally sunk China's economy. So what did China lose? Hong Kong, Macau, Outer Mongolia, Kiau Chau etc. Hence this became the rise of Chinese Nationalism. I believe this is called the unequal treaty.

 

I see your point, though from my father's perspective, China in the 1940s was the Republic of China fighting the Japanese invaders with the help of its US allies. He lived in the countryside on the local economy, and I inherited a very positive feeling toward China and the Chinese from my dad. I am sorry that some European colonial powers abused the country in the past.

 

Numinaut - I'm sure your dad must have enjoyed his time in China. While I'm not of Chinese descent, I'm sure he would have the full warmth of Chinese hospitality for fighting against the Japanese. There is a saying that while its hard to be friends to be with Chinese, but when you are friends with one, he / she will be one for life.

I apologize for being too blunt.

 

No offence taken, I understand about the hard feelings for having their country occupied and carved up. And you are right, the Chinese are wonderful friendly people.
Sorry I don't have any coins of the Communists, dad only brought back some pocket change and currency. Here is one:

 

From Wikipedia. "Communist Controlled China (1927-1949). Communist controlled China, officially called the Soviet Zone, was part of the territories of China controlled by the Communist Party of China from 1927-1949 during the Republican era and the Chinese Civil War with Nationalist China.- - - - As problems occurred over being able to control territories outside the Central Soviet, by 1933 a full transfer of Communist forces to the Central Soviet was achieved." - Whilst my knowledge of Chinese history is limited, I am not the only one who needs to do the homework. But, whatever I might learn, gxseries, Coin Collector, I hope I wouldn't become snooty about it.

 

I do have several Manchukuo pieces including small silver. The history of Pu Yi from childhood forward is very interesting. In 1987 the movie "The Last Emperor" opened up a China to a lot of non Chinese especially my son who was nine years old. The final scenes moved him. He's now 39 and we still talk about the movie.
It's also what got me more interested in Chinese history.

 

I too saw "The Last Emperor", many years ago, and long before I took an interest in numismatics. I expect the China of the 1980's is very different to China of 2018. And the last emperor. There has also been the last Kaiser, Wilhelm II and the last Tsar, Nicholas II. Who will be the next "last"? - Has, other than China, the world of coin-collecting also opened up to your 39-year-old son ?

 

Bert, I hope you or other Chinese collectors can help me on this one. It appears to be of the reign of Win Zong 1851-61, but I cannot decipher the mint.

I've looked in Hartill and Schjoth and no joy. It's 23mm and weighs in at 2.7gm. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Damn, I love this hobby.

 

Black Friar, very sorry, but I am not, particularly, a Chinese collector, nor do I speak any of the Chinese languages. Maybe one or two CT folks here might fit the bill. Otherwise, if you have any Coin Fair in your vicinity - some Chinese specialists there might be able to help. Do you have any major, and well stocked, Library, they just might have books on Chinese coinage ? I can't really advise much more. Good luck !