Noteworthy Notes

P C G S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D Hong Kong – A China 1919 $10 Gold Coin

By Jay Turner

China (1919) $10 L&M-1030 Y-330, PCGS AU58. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

China transitioning to a gold standard was a desire by many with the thought that it would bring better security and economics to the Chinese nation. While there had been attempts to adopt this standard, it wouldn’t be until 1919 that the first Central Mint circulation-issue gold pieces would be struck and produced in what would be another failed attempt to switch.

With the outbreak of The Great War (World War I), China found itself in a difficult situation in terms of trade with western nations preoccupied with war. This shortfall left an opportunity for Minister of Finance Tsao Ju-lin to attempt his goal of getting China onto a gold standard. There were many factors persuading China to adopt a gold standard, including loans with foreign nations, indemnities in gold, and the constant fluctuations of the price of silver, along with the fact that many other successful and growing nations also ran on the gold standard. Tsao Ju-lin’s plan wasn’t just to issue gold coinage, but to also issue gold-backed banknotes that could be exchanged for gold and gold coinage. Under his plan, China was to be granted a loan by Japan for currency regulation purposes and the loan proceeds would be deposited back into government banks in Japan with gold currency notes being issued against this reserve.

Furthermore, Tsao Ju-lin’s proposed gold system would spawn the issuance of gold coins in the denominations of $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. In 1919, the Tientsin Mint produced two of these coins, a gold $20 and a gold $10 coin featuring Yuan Shi-Kai, with both coins dated year 8, or 1919. Only a small amount of both coins was struck, and when they entered circulation were oddities in the mostly silverbased commerce system. The coins quickly disappeared from circulation, being placed in numismatic collections or melted for their metallic value. While some believe Tsao Ju-lin’s gold standard could succeed, the plan failed miserably. A national wave of anti-Japanese sentiment broke out in China, and calls to boycott everything Japanese related gained popularity on a national scale. The thought of Japan holding money reserves for China was effectively dead along with Tsao Ju-lin’s gold standard plan.

Today, the 1919 gold coinage from the Tientsin Mint is scarce. A piece from the famous Dr. Norman Jacobs Collection was submitted to the PCGS office in Hong Kong in 2021 for Crossover service and was removed from an alternative service’s holder. The coin is a 1919 $10 listed in the L&M Catalog as L&M-1030 and in Krause as Y-330. The coin is an authentic specimen with a great pedigree and graded AU58 by PCGS.

Jay began collecting coins at the age of 13, when he inherited his uncle’s coin collection. Turner is proficient in U.S. and world coins, token and medal variety attribution, grading, and counterfeit detection. In 2017, Turner joined PCGS as a grader specializing in world coins. He is stationed at the PCGS U.S. headquarters and grades on-site for the Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Paris offices.

1889 Bank of Nor th Queensland £ 1

B y P h i l i p T h o m a s

G’day, mate! In a bit of a geographic departure from the early American banknotes showcased in the most recent Noteworthy Notes features, this issue’s installment takes you down under to explore a piece of early Australian financial history that recently made the lengthy 7,500-mile trek across the Pacific Ocean to our Southern California grading room. Before we get started, it should be noted that PCGS maintains teams of banknote experts across the globe on multiple continents capable of delivering unparalleled expertise while authenticating and grading the full spectrum of world banknotes from every time period – not just early American material, of course.

In nearly every nation, the 20th century saw the rise and eventual dominance of central banking, a financial era characterized by a more uniform assortment of circulating banknotes from fewer, larger issuers responsible for broader swaths of populations and economies. Prior to that, privately issued banknotes from smaller, localized financial institutions and municipalities were commonplace around the world, and Australia was no exception. From 1817 to 1910, hundreds upon hundreds of issues from many dozens of Australian private issuers and local governments have been cataloged, with the bulk of these banknotes being quite rare. Our featured note here is one formidable example: an 1889 £1 note from The Bank of North Queensland (Townsville branch) graded by PCGS as VG10.

One of this private issue’s most appealing qualities involves the fact that it spent time in circulation as a fully issued banknote. Because of the small stature and footprint of most private issuers as well as the short length of time in business operating and issuing banknotes (bank failures of various forms were inevitable for many), unissued, unsigned, and undated remainders as well as printers’ proofs and specimens of banknote designs in high grades are much more frequently encountered. Unlike the overall trend in the universe of numismatics that prioritizes the loftiest grade possible, this particular banknote’s lower grade is a testament to its history, rarity, and desirability.

The Bank of North Queensland formally operated out of Brisbane – the capital and most populated city of the northeastern Australian state of Queensland – from its origin in 1888 until its amalgamation with the Bank of Queensland in 1917. However, its head office was located in the smaller coastal town of Townsville approximately 1,000 miles north of Brisbane and was responsible for the issuance of this example. Several other arms of this institution were established as well, including branches existing in Sydney, Rockhampton, Cairns, and Cooktown.

The most notable aspect of the bank’s history involves its two-month closure as a result of the Panic of 1893, a global economic phenomenon that reached the shores of Australia in April of that year with hard-hitting effects. On May 15, the Bank of North Queensland suspended operations (i.e. shut its doors! Crikey!) due to an unsustainable drain on cash deposits resulting from public fear that its money was at risk if left under the bank’s guardianship. Many Australian private banks at the time did not have sufficient liquidity to remain open, needing anywhere from one to six months to weather the storm. The Bank of North Queensland reopened on July 19.

The vignette at center depicts Mercury, the Roman god of financial gain, carrying his caduceus and handing over a bag of coins to a female allegory representing commerce at what appears to be a shipping port. It’s such an elegant, scarce, and historically significant banknote to behold!

Because banknote lots were hung on Southern California coin shop bid boards eye-level with a first-grader, a young Philip gravitated toward collecting notes versus their circular metal numismatic cousins in the mid-1980s. He has maintained his passion for banknotes ever since and joined PCGS in his current role as banknote specialist and research manager since the launch of PCGS Banknote in early 2020.