The Coin Collection of a Famous Financier during the Republic Period: The Coins in the NC Collection from the Former Central Mint Director Turpin Hsi

The Origin of Coins in the Envelopes

Nelson Chang's wife was Edith Hsi ( 席與時 ), a famous socialite of the Republican era, and she was the sixth daughter of Turpin Hsi ( 席德柄 ). Edith was born in Shanghai and went to the United States during the Anti-Japanese War. Nelson Chang also came from an exceedingly wealthy family, which declined during the Anti-Japanese War. The Chang family went bankrupt after going to the United States. At this most difficult time, Edith married Nelson. Their marriage was opposed by the Hsi family, but Edith was very persistent. It is said that they borrowed from friends for the cost of their honeymoon. The coins found in Nelson's collection were in gray Whitman envelopes, which were produced from the 1930s to 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 away in 1968.

About Turpin Hsi

Turpin Hsi was Nelson Chang's father-in-law. Turpin Hsi, a prominent financier in the Republic period, was born into the Hsi family in Dongshan, Suzhou, Kiangsu Province. Known as the Dongting Gang in China's banking community at that time, the Hsi family was one of the foremost financial and comprador families, which included several eminent bankers and industrialists. Turpin Hsi (1891-1968, Mandarin pinyin Xi Debing) studied in the United States in his early years and received a Bachelor of Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Returning to China, he came to be engaged in taxation and financial work for a long time. He once served as the secretary of the Ministry of Finance during the Peiyang era, deputy director of Jianghaikou Taxation Bureau, supervisor of Jianghan Pass, General Manager of the Foo Hsing Trading Company, and Director of the Central Mint. After the Sino-Japanese War, he served as the General Manager of the Fufeng Flour Mill. Since he served as director of the Central Mint for more than eight years, he was quite influential in the financial community during the Republic times.

Turpin Hsi Collection

During his collecting hey-day, Turpin Hsi formed a collection of world coins numbering over 10,000 coins, including ancient coins from Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

Hsi's collection contained around 100 silver coins from Anhwei, Kiangnan, Chihli, Kirin, and other Chinese provinces, many of which are 10-cent and 20-cent coins and of the finest known

examples. Hsi may have brought these coins to the US in 1949 when he moved there, and it is 1% of his collection.

Due to his grandfather Xi Zhengfu's ( 席正甫 ) connection with

Edith Hsi Turpin Hsi Turpin Hsi and his wife, Huang Fengzhu

The Hsi Family Mansion

Li Hongzhang ( 李鴻章 ) and Zuo Zongtang ( 左宗棠 ), senior officials of the Qing government, and the family's large network of banks and silver shops, many coins may have been acquired shortly after they were minted. The coins were later preserved in grey Whitman coin envelops with his handwriting in the 1950s.

According to Michael Chou, some of Hsi's coins have already been sold and others have been preserved. There is a list of the remaining coins from February 24, 2011. Some of the coins were sold around 2005. Others were offered to Michael Chou between

2008 and 2009 and some were sold at the Champion Hong Kong auction after 2009. Among them are some silver coins from Kiangnan and Anhwei, all of which are among the finest known.

About the Hsi Family

The Hsi Family Mansion

Turpin Hsi and his wife, Huang Fengzhu ( 黃鳳珠 ), once lived together in the famous Hsi Family Mansion. The mansion, located at No. 1 Dongping Road, is close to the house of President Chiang Kai Shek (No. 9 Dongping Road) and the house of Financial Minister Song Ziwen (No. 11 Dongping Road), his schoolmate when he was studied in the US. After China's War of Liberation, the Hsi Family Mansion was expropriated by the government and used as the office building for the middle school attached to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Now, it is a restaurant and a leading tourist attraction.

Demao Hsi

Demao Hsi ( 席德懋 ) was the elder brother of Turpin Hsi. In 1912, Demao Hsi went to Britain to study overseas. He received an MBA degree in 1916, then returned to China. Later on, he became a prominent banker just like his colleagues Xinliu Xu ( 徐新六 ) and Zutong Hu ( 胡祖同 ) in Shanghai.

Demao Hsi was the best friends with Song Ziweng ( 宋子文 ).

During the Republican of China, the Hsi family had a great impact on the financial industry. Demao Hsi served as the Deputy Director of the Central Bank, Director of the Foreign Currency Bureau, Director of the Business Affairs Bureau, General Manager of the Bank of China and Deputy of the International Fund and Currency Committee under the appointment of Song Ziweng. He managed the foreign currency affairs for a long period. In 1948, Demao Hsi became the General manager of the Bank of China.

Xi Zhengfu

Xi Zhengfu

Turpin Hsi is the grandson of the prominent banker Xi Zhengfu (1838-1904), the second Comprador of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (1874-1904) and a native banker who was considered one of the "Four Major Compradors of the Late Qing Era".

In 1874, Xi Zhengfu, on behalf of the HSBC negotiated with the Qing government regarding the debt for the defense of Fujian and Taiwan. The Qing government agreed to borrow two million dollars from HSBC with a ten-year term payoff. Following HSBC’s success in ending the financial crisis, they pushed Xi Zhengfu to be the comprador of HSBC to negotiate with the Qing Ministers Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang. In order to obtain a large amount of loans, the Qing Ministers won over Xi Zhengfu by offering him the office of "Red-Topped Plume". However, Zhengfu Hsi declined taking office and going to Beijing. Instead, he reaped large profits from his relationships with the Qing Ministers. From 1874 to 1890, he negotiated seventeen loans with the Qing government and acquired a great number of commissions. At the same time, the business of HSBC was on the rise under Hsi's leadership. Xi Zhengfu accumulated a huge amount of wealth throughout his comprador life. Apart from investing in the financial sector, he also invested in many properties in Pudong, Nanjing Road, and Fengyang Road. During that period, the old-style Chinese private bank in Shanghai would borrow money from foreign banks, then lend the money to small business enterprises at a very high interest rate. As Xi Zhengfu controlled the signature seal of HSBC, he was the leading lender among these private banks. Almost all the private banks invited him to join or employed his friends as assistants. Xi Zhengfu also invested in silver shops, gold shops, and pawn shops.

In 1887, Xi Zhengfu established the Xisheng Private Bank ( 協升

錢莊 ) with Yan Lanqing ( 嚴蘭卿 ). As he had very good social relationships, he brought his friends and relatives into the foreign banks, who becamethe compradors for those banks. Hsi’s family was the comprador of compradors from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. 17 out of 34 banks were controlled by the family. The situation was unparalleled. Since most businessmen needed funds, they had to ask for help from the Dongting Gang. There is an old saying: "The most ruthless have to submit when facing the Dongting Gang."

Xi Zhengfu passed away in 1904. On the day of his funeral, white tents were built at each cross-road, from the Bund to the Fengyang Road, as well as at his home. White platforms were built in front of the gates of most foreign banks. Armed forces passed by Nanjing Road to escort his funeral procession. Xi Zhengfu was the only person to enjoy such privilege after his death in Shanghai.

Zhang Jingjiang

Chang's great uncle, Zhang Jingjiang, was a large financial supporter of the Chinese statesman Sun Yat-sen and one of the founding elders of Sun Yat-sen's Kuomingtang party. He is a legendary figure. Sun Yat-Sen called him "the greatest wonder of China", Chiang Kai Shek called him "the mentor of revolution", and Mao Zedong called him "a man with an economic vision".

民國著名金融家的錢幣收藏⸺NC 收藏中來自前中央造幣 廠廠長席德柄先生的錢幣

周 边〔上海〕

張南琛先生

美國張南琛先生（NC）的兒子在整理其父親遺贈錢幣時發 現了一些與中國錢幣有關的手寫與印刷的紙條和收藏錢幣 的專用信封。資料提及了幾位民國金融界的著名人物，引 起了我的興趣，經整理並將這些資料敘述如下。

紙條與信封

資料中比較重要的證據來自兩張紙質字條。其中手書的一 張為張南琛先生所寫，印刷字體為他儿子的注評。

翻譯成中文為：

“① 所有的錢幣都在史博祿1993年時為我（NC）編撰的 主目錄中。“NOT”字樣代表不在目錄中，“C”代表在目 錄中。

② 因為有一些同類別的錢幣不止一枚，因此目錄上每一枚 的描述並不一定完全正確，但是我很高興，目錄上的錢幣 描述可以囊括全部收藏的錢幣。”

譯成中文為： 是前上海造幣廠廠長（中央造幣廠之誤）。父親（張南琛） 對這些錢幣的來源並不確定，但是這些錢幣的信封看起來 像是西方的錢幣信封（信封為灰色的惠特曼信封，灰色的惠 特曼信封僅存在於上世紀50年代至60年代），因此可能是 祖父在美國期間收藏的（席德柄先生1950年至1968年期間 在美國）, 但是後來發現這些錢幣是從中國帶過去的。父親 的這些錢幣大約有100枚。”

文中的惠特曼（Whitman）是美國一家公司，它生產的錢 幣包裝品很著名，美國的錢幣收藏家大都用惠特曼產品收 藏錢幣。灰色的惠特曼信封大約生產於上世紀50年代以前。

所有席德柄先生收藏的中國錢幣後都收歸 NC 收藏。1993 年，史博祿先生（Bruce Smith）為 NC 收藏編目時又在 信封上添加了英文筆記。席先生的這批錢幣中有很多都是 已知品相最好的，並形成了精美的包漿，味道非常好。

灰色的惠特曼信封及部分對應錢幣

信封中錢幣的來源

張南琛先生的太太為席與時。民國名媛，出生於上海，為 席德柄之女，排行第六，時稱席家六小姐。抗戰期間前往 美國後，張南琛先生的祖上也是官商大族，抗日戰爭時家 道中落了。張氏家族去美國後破產、在最困難之時席與時 嫁給了張南琛先生。他與席小姐的婚姻遭到了席家的反對。 張先生家的這些錢幣，由於是用上世紀30年代至50年代時 的灰色惠特曼信封來包裝的，因此這批錢幣被分析可能是 席德柄先生贈予女兒席與時，因為在席德柄於1968年去世 前，張南琛還未開始收藏錢幣。後再轉至張南琛先生手中。

“這些機製幣占祖父收藏的1%。祖父席德柄（1891-1968）

關於席德柄

期的財政部秘書、江海口內地 稅局副局長、江漢關監督、復 興貿易公司總經理、中央造幣 廠廠長。抗日戰爭勝利後擔任 過上海阜豐麵粉廠 ( 即解放後 的上海麵粉廠 ) 總經理，其中 任中央造幣廠廠長的時間較長． 因而在民國金融界也頗有影響。

席德柄收藏

席與時小姐 席德柄先生 席德柄先生與夫人黃鳳珠

席先生建立了龐大的世界錢幣 收藏，藏有包括古埃及幣、希臘幣、羅馬幣、中國近代機製 幣在內的超過10 000枚錢幣。

在他的中國近代機製幣收藏中，大約有100枚安徽、江南、 北洋、吉林及其他中國省份鑄造的錢幣，其中很多都是庫 平一錢四分四厘和七分二厘銀幣，且很多都是已知品相最 好的。席先生可能正是在1949年時將這些中國錢幣帶往美 國，这些錢幣占他藏品的1%。

他獲得這些錢幣可能是因其祖父席正甫先生與清政府高官 李鴻章及左宗棠等人的關係。此外，席氏家族還擁有龐大 的銀行和銀號網路，有可能在造幣廠鑄造完成後立即獲得 新鑄的錢幣，其後於20世紀50年代時將這些錢幣保存在帶 有手寫筆記的灰色的惠特曼信封中。

據周邁可先生的瞭解，這批錢幣中的部分已經出售，還有 部分保留了下來，参見為留下的錢幣清單。有一部分錢幣 於2005年出售。還有部分於2008-2009年間給了周邁可先 生，並於2009年後的冠軍香港拍賣會上拍出。其中有一些 江南和安徽的小毫子，都是已知同類銀毫中品相最好的。

席家花園

關於席氏家族

由此引出了張南琛先生的岳父席德柄先生。席德柄先生是 中國近代著名金融家，出生在江蘇省蘇州東山席氏家族， 這個家族是中國近現代著名的金融家族和買辦家族。出了 好幾位很有影響的銀行家和實業家。被稱為當時中國銀行 界的洞庭幫。

席德柄先生早年留學美國，是麻省理工學院 (MIT) 的工科 學士。回國後長期從事財稅、金融工作。曾任北洋政府時

席家花園

席德柄先生與其妻子黃鳳珠女士及一子七女曾居住於上海 著名的席家花園。席家花園坐落於東平路1號，临近中華民 國總統蔣介石與其夫人的居所（東平路9號），及席德柄美 國求學時的同學，財政部長宋子文的私宅（東平路11號）。 解放後，東平路1號這棟房子被收歸國有，成為上海音樂學 院附中的校長辦公樓，現已被出租並改建成酒家“席家花

園”，成為上海著名的旅遊勝地。

席德懋

席德懋先生是席德柄先生的哥哥。他在1912年自費赴英國 留學，1916年獲商科碩士學位回國，與他同學的徐新六先 生、胡祖同先生一樣，後來都成了民國著名的銀行家。

席德懋先生是宋子文先生的得力助手。進入民國以後，席 氏家族在金融界仍有很大的影響力，其中代表人物是席德 懋、席德柄兄弟。席德懋是民國年間金融界的大腕人物， 1928年中央銀行成立時，受宋子文之聘，曾出任中央銀行 發行局副局長、外匯局局長、業務局局長、匯兌局總經理、 中國銀行總經理，國際貨幣基金會中國代表，長期從事全 國的外匯管理工作，負責管轄中國銀行的海外分支行，於 1948年成為中國銀行行長。

席正甫

席德柄先生是席正甫先生（1838-1904）之孫。席正甫在 1874年至1904年間是匯豐銀行的第二任買辦，也是晚清時 期的四大買辦之一。

僅是為了抬高身價，並未赴京就任實職，他借與清廷的關 係和匯豐銀行買辦的身份，左右逢源，得到了極大的好處。 從1874-1890年，清政府向匯豐銀行借款17筆，絕大多數 是由席正甫一手經辦，他由此得到了大量傭金，而匯豐銀 行通過席正甫的上下溝通，業務也蒸蒸日上，為此對他優 渥有加。 席正甫在長達數十年的買辦生涯中聚集了大量財產，除投 資經營金融業外，還在浦東、南京路、鳳陽路一帶購置了 眾多的房產。當時上海錢莊為了獲得流動資金，常常向外 商銀行借款，再用這部分錢放高利貸，貸給大大小小的商 號以獲取利潤。由於席正甫掌管了匯豐銀行借款的簽字蓋 章權，成為當時銀錢業炙手可熱的大紅人，幾乎所有的錢 莊都要求他加入股本，或聘用他介紹的人當助手。同時， 席正甫廣泛投資和銀行業務有聯繫的錢業、銀樓、典當、 金號。 1887年，席正甫與嚴蘭卿合資開設了協升錢莊，他還利用 自己的社會關係，介紹親友、熟人進入眾多的外商銀行， 他的一些親屬還擔任了洋行買辦，致使席氏家族在19世紀 末到20世紀初的上海灘成為風雲一時的買辦世家。當時外 商在上海開設的大小銀行34家，其中17家由席氏家族擔任 買辦，佔據了上海金融界的重要位置，這在近代中國獨一 1874年，席正甫代表匯豐銀行買辦王槐山與清政府商談福 無二。由此，洞庭東山人在上海金融業形成了一股強大的 建臺灣海防借款事宜。最後，匯豐銀行以比當時高得多的 勢力，各地商人資金短缺，非請洞庭山邦幫忙不可，因此 利息，借給清政府200萬兩銀10年期借款。這筆貸款的成 19世紀末流傳着這樣一首口諺 :" 徽幫人 ( 主要經商 ) 再狠， 功，開創了匯豐銀 見了山上幫，還得忍一忍。" 行政治貸款的先 例，將該行從財務 1904年，席正甫壽終正寢，祭奠之日，從外灘到鳳陽路席 窘境中解脫了出來， 家，沿途各個路口都搭了白布帳棚，中外商家及一些外國 也使席正甫從此得 銀行的門口，都設定了壇臺路祭，公共租界巡捕還武裝護 勢，既當上了匯豐 送上祭隊伍從南京路上通過，死後在上海灘上能夠享受這 銀行買辦，又受到 種待遇的買辦，也僅席正甫一人而已。 清朝大臣李鴻章和 左宗棠等的賞識。 為了獲得巨額貸款， 他們爭相拉攏席 正甫，李鴻章還特 意上書朝廷，替他 保薦官職，席正甫 接受了二品銜紅頂 花翎，又捐了道臺 席正甫先生 一職。但他做官僅

张静江

张南琛先生的二叔公张静江先生是中国政治家孙中山在财 政方面的重要支持者，也是孙中山先生创办的国民党的元 老之一。他是一個傳奇式的人物。孫中山稱他為“中華第一 奇人”，蔣介石稱他為“革命導師”，毛澤東稱他是“有經濟 眼光的人”。

The Gold Coin and Gold Cake Project in

Stephen Tai〔Taipei〕

At the end of 1948, the value of Chinese gold yuan notes ( 金 圓 券 ) were on the verge of collapse. Armies and civilians began to use gold bullion and silver dollars. In these circumstances, Xu Kan ( 徐 堪 ), the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of China (hereafter

The government began to issue the Chinese gold yuan notes from August 19, 1948, and forced the exchange of gold at the Central Bank and other authorized banks within a specific time limit. The government issued over two billion yuan of gold yuan notes within three months. From that point, the number of issued notes had risen by several multiples, which caused a panic among the people.

To save the gold yuan notes, the government announced the General Rules for Deposit (《辦理存款兌現通則》) on November 19, which stipulated that depositors could exchange gold yuan notes for gold bullion or silver dollars at a quoted price by depositing gold yuan notes for a fixed term. The unit of gold bullion for the exchange was

Within two months of policy implementation, the Central Bank issued 485,939 taels of gold, less than 30% of gold referred to as "the Ministry of Finance"), put forward a new currency plan in secret in March 1949. Xu instructed the Central Mint to mint denomination-derived gold coins and weight-derived gold cakes to replace mint bullion (gold bullion cast by provincial mints) and silver dollars circulating among the public. Two months later, after the Kuomintang ( 國民黨 ) army lost control of Shanghai, the Central Mint moved to Chengdu, Sichuan, and Taipei, Taiwan. Xu was appointed to be the director of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (hereafter referred to as "the Central Bank") in Guangzhou. He decided to resume the plan, and he ordered the Central Mint, which had just been transferred from the Ministry of Finance to the Central Bank, to give full cooperation. Although the Republic of China government (hereafter referred to as "the government") suspended the project when it retreated to Taiwan at the end of 1949, some gold coins and cakes had already entered into the market.

This project launched at the end of the Chinese Civil War has been unknown to the outside world until relevant documents were made public in Taiwan recently.

redeemed from the public before (1,677,163 taels). The Central Bank cast the gold redeemed from the public

Background

a half tael. If the value of gold yuan notes to be deposited was less than half tael of gold bullion, the bank would issue silver dollars to the depositor. On November 22, designated banks in Nanjing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hankou, Tianjin, and Peking put the policy into trial operation, and on December 1, banks in other 26 cities across the country started implementation. The gold redeemed before was reissued to the public. Yet, due to the limited amount of gold issuance1, it caused much resentment among the population. The Central Mint ceased the policy on January 16, 1949. However, gold bullion and silver dollars had already replaced gold yuan notes in circulation.