China's hard cents were minted from 1955, so the earliest year was 1955. However, they did not actually begin to be released until the end of 1957.
This set of hard cents has been in circulation for more than 60 years and is the most familiar coin for many people. But some people may wonder why coins such as 1 yuan and 5 dimes will be revised and upgraded not long after they are issued, while the hard cents have not changed from the beginning to the end?
In fact, the hard cent has tried many changes, and its version is even more than all other coins. These special hard coins, the pattern is different from ordinary coins, and now the collection value is very high, a set of basically millions, the highest can even reach about 5 millions.
So, what kind of hard cents are there? This article will briefly talk about a few examples.
A rare 1967 5 points
The aluminum cents currently in use in China are simple and generous, light and heavy, and for a long time, they have been the main force of circulation and use, and the people also like it very much. However, coins always have to be revised and upgraded, and the banknotes issued in the same period in China will basically be revised every few years to more than ten years. Hard cents are no exception.
In the 1960s, China tried to upgrade the hard cent. At that time, various beautifully designed trial coins were minted and presented. Most of the years are from 1968 to 1969, and the layout is particularly large. Unfortunately, in the end, none of these hard cents were adopted, so they minted only a small number of sample coins, and there was no follow-up.
The earliest year to be discovered is the 1967 5-cent coin pictured above. From the picture, we can find that the coin face pattern of this hard cent coin adopts a high relief process, with more carving details, and the coin surface has a mirror effect, which can be said to be much better than the coin in circulation today.
This rare 5-cent coin sold for 322,350 at auction.
Trial mints with higher market prices
Between 1968 and 1969, the two years with the largest number of hard cents were tried, during which dozens of different trial coins emerged. Because it is often a whole set, the collection value will be higher.
For example, the group of unused trial minted sample coins in the above picture has a total of 28 coins, which not only have aluminum materials, but also try to use brass materials, which is very special.
During the same period, the highest collection value was the above set of 1969 hard cents, which currently only have one set, stored in the Bank of Shanghai Museum, and according to the valuation, the market price of this set of coins can reach around 5 million.
In fact, due to the extremely rare amount of minting, the hard cents of the same period of trial minting, the market price of a set is basically around one million. Although many versions were not adopted, the upgrade of the hard cent was tried until 1975, when a trial coin of the hard cent was minted. The above set of 1975 hard cents of the Industry and Agriculture Sciences was auctioned for 1.45 million!
epilogue
We can also find from the coin surface pattern that the trial mint of these hard cents is extremely exquisite, which may also be the reason why they are not issued in the end, because the overly delicate coin surface will increase the minting cost, resulting in a higher cost than the denomination! (Due to rising material prices, today's hard cents are already more expensive than their face value.) ）
Therefore, in the end, it is still a simple and generous first version of the hard coin, and the laughter is at the end.
However, these unused trial coins have a strong era mark and research value, and their collection value cannot be ignored under the premise of the scarcity of minting quantities. If you've ever seen a strange hard coin on the coin side, they may be unused trial coins, but don't throw them away.