專題
The Origin of Coins in the Envelopes
FEATURES
Turpin Hsi (1891-1968, Mandarin pinyin Xi Debing) studied in the United States in his early years and received a Bachelor
Nelson Chang's wife was Edith Hsi ( 席與時 ), a famous socialite
of Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
of the Republican era, and she was the sixth daughter of Turpin
(MIT). Returning to China, he came to be engaged in taxation and
Hsi ( 席德柄 ). Edith was born in Shanghai and went to the United
financial work for a long time. He once served as the secretary of
States during the Anti-Japanese War. Nelson Chang also came
the Ministry of Finance during the Peiyang era, deputy director of
from an exceedingly wealthy family, which declined during the
Jianghaikou Taxation Bureau, supervisor of Jianghan Pass, General
Anti-Japanese War. The Chang family went bankrupt after going to
Manager of the Foo Hsing Trading Company, and Director of
the United States. At this most difficult time, Edith married Nelson.
the Central Mint. After the Sino-Japanese War, he served as the
Their marriage was opposed by the Hsi family, but Edith was very
General Manager of the Fufeng Flour Mill. Since he served as
persistent. It is said that they borrowed from friends for the cost of
director of the Central Mint for more than eight years, he was quite
their honeymoon. The coins found in Nelson's collection were in
influential in the financial community during the Republic times.
gray Whitman envelopes, which were produced from the 1930s to
Turpin Hsi Collection
the 1950s. Therefore, it is supposed that these coins may have been presented by Turpin Hsi to his daughter Edith Hsi, as Nelson had not yet begun to collect coins by the time that Turpin Hsi passed
During his collecting hey-day, Turpin Hsi formed a collection of
away in 1968.
world coins numbering over 10,000 coins, including ancient coins from Greece, Rome, and Egypt.
About Turpin Hsi Hsi's collection contained around 100 silver coins from Anhwei, Turpin Hsi was Nelson Chang's father-in-law. Turpin Hsi, a
Kiangnan, Chihli, Kirin, and other Chinese provinces, many of
prominent financier in the Republic period, was born into the Hsi
which are 10-cent and 20-cent coins and of the finest known
family in Dongshan, Suzhou, Kiangsu Province. Known as the
examples. Hsi may have brought these coins to the US in 1949
Dongting Gang in China's banking community at that time, the Hsi
when he moved there, and it is 1% of his collection.
family was one of the foremost financial and comprador families, Due to his grandfather Xi Zhengfu's ( 席 正 甫 ) connection with
which included several eminent bankers and industrialists.
Edith Hsi
Turpin Hsi
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Turpin Hsi and his wife, Huang Fengzhu
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