In 2004, at the Beijing Guardian Auction, a gold sample coin of "Xuantong Three-Year Great Qing Silver Coin Long Beard Dragon One Yuan" was sold with a hammer of "1.76 million", which directly refreshed the world record of ancient coin auction; what ancient coin is so valuable? There is also a story of "pancake treasure hiding" hidden in this.
Speaking of "pancakes", it is undoubtedly the most famous in Tianjin Wei; Tianjin's "pancake stalls" are even more scattered, one after another, and the same was true in 1945.
At 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning of September 19, 1945, a "pancake stall" in Tianjin had just opened its doors, and two people rushed to the road; although it was not the largest in Tianjin, it was famous in this area.
Speaking of these two people, seeing that this pancake sells well, but refuses to come forward to buy, just muttering to each other; the guy is very clever, seeing that there are two people standing in front of the store a little hesitant, they take the initiative to greet "Two grandfathers, our pancakes here are freshly made, to ensure that you two will not forget when you eat, two sets of two?" ”
One of them said, "You guys are all freshly made pancakes?" What we want is a little demanding, can you do it? ”
The guy smiled and said, "The two of you will command, you said to make noodles, dead noodles, meat, vegetarian, green onions or vegetable leaves, as long as you command it, the small shop package you are satisfied!" "The guy's mouth is quite slippery, and there are many clichés, which attracts the two of them."
Or the man said, "It doesn't matter what kind of pancakes, you just have to hide these 'copper coins' in it." ”
When the guy looked, the patron handed over a few ancient coins, saying that it was "copper coins", but some of them looked like silver, a bit like gold; this guy didn't know how to do it, but he also knew that the people who took gold and silver in those years and months were not ordinary people, so their attitude was more polite.
At this time, the guy nodded to the two guests, and said in his mouth, "Hey, the two grandfathers are assured, make sure you don't say, the grandfather who eats pancakes can eat these few 'blessing money' in his stomach." ”
Here is a few words, the so-called "fu money" is more common in the north, the New Year, there is also the custom of wrapping coins into dumplings; so many dumplings under the pot, and then put out certainly can not distinguish which dumplings are wrapped with money, who if you eat, it proves that this person is "blessed", the money wrapped in dumplings, it is called "fu money".
It is also because of such a custom, therefore, although the size of these gold and silver coins is not small, but the guys did not think much, but also think that "rich people pack blessing money" to play; this is good, the pancake master in order to hide these ancient coins, use more noodles, spread out the pancakes are much thicker, this is probably not Tianjin Wei "authentic" pancakes.
Although the pancakes were made like this, the two "patrons" were quite satisfied, and gave the guys a lot of rewards for this; just to say that these two people, really not to eat pancakes, one of them is a famous ancient coin collector, "Ma Dingxiang".
Accompanying him is not ordinary people, or his brother, this time they went to Tianjin for the 5 ancient coins; of course, these 5 ancient coins are treasures, hidden in the pancakes naturally not for "blessing money".
In 1945, the Anti-Japanese War had just been won, but the Turmoil in China was not over, "Ma Dingxiang" originally lived in Shanghai, this time he could personally go out on the horse, but also reflected the importance of the 5 ancient coins; in summary, this time they heard that there was a foreigner in Tianjin who wanted to return to China, and he hid a lot of ancient coins, which were All Of China's "National Treasures".
These Chinese treasures, if foreigners want to take them abroad, it is a loss of cultural relics; "Ma Dingxiang" naturally did not want to see these, but it was not peaceful at that time, and it was not easy to "save the national treasure".
In any case, "Ma Dingxiang" and his brother took the risk of rushing from Shanghai to Tianjin, and then bought back 5 ancient coins from foreigners at a sky-high price of "more than a dozen silver tickets"; when they came, "Ma Dingxiang" had nothing more than money and relatively small risks, but if they wanted to go back, they were carrying "national treasures" at this time, which was not a problem that money could solve.
Originally, if the "Ma family brothers" wanted to take the train back to Shanghai, they could take cover by "many people"; unfortunately, the 1945 train was particularly tightly checked, and if the national treasure fell into the hands of any warlord or soldier, it would be a big trouble.
Just when the two were at a loss, "Ma Dingxiang" just saw that the business of a pancake stall was good, so an idea came up; at that time, the younger brother thought that "Ma Dingxiang" was hungry and just wanted to buy pancakes, but he was pulled aside by his brother, which led to the scene of "two people muttering" at the beginning.
Really speaking, Ma Dingxiang's "customized" pancakes are thick and large, how to see it is "abnormal", if someone checks, tear open the pancakes can find the 5 ancient coins; but the "pancakes" are rolled up, and they are all over the streets in Tianjin, which generally do not attract attention.
In any case, Ma Dingxiang used "pancakes" to cover up, really cheated the inventory, and finally returned to Shanghai, "5 ancient coins" have no news; until the 2004 Jiade Spring Auction, the "Qing Dynasty Xuanun Three Years Great Qing Changshulong Gold Coin" in the 5 ancient coins appeared again, and sold at a "sky-high price" of 1.76 million.
Under the sensation, this story of "pancake treasure" was also made public; of course, this "Qing Dynasty Xuanun Three-Year Great Qing Long Su Long Dragon Gold Coin" has also become the most expensive "one yuan" in the history of the world's ancient coin auction.
Speaking of this "gold one-dollar coin", its preciousness lies not in "gold", but in "history"; this coin was originally a sample coin minted by the "Tianjin Mint Of the Daqingdu Branch" in 1911.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China and Turkey were in internal and external difficulties, especially the fierce competition between the two major forces of "restoration" and "old-fashioned"; the Qing Dynasty tried to reform the currency, whether to follow the "two" of the old system or to use "Yuan" in line with the times, this topic became the central topic of the quarrel in the court.
Finally, the "Restoration" prevailed, and in the third year of Xuanun (1911 AD), the Tianjin Du Branch Mint General Factory tried to mint the "Xuantong Three-Year Great Qing Silver Coin"; this type of coin has a diameter of 38.4 mm, the middle and upper sides of the front are "Great Qing Silver Coin" four characters, the bottom is the word "Xuanun Three Years", and the back has the dragon pattern and "ONE DOLLAR (one yuan)" English characters.
The style of such coins is not the same, at that time, there were more than ten kinds of sample coins such as long-bearded dragon, short-bearded dragon, curved-whiskered dragon, large-tailed dragon, anti-dragon, etc. for selection, and a small number of gold sample coins were minted, which were specially "presented to the imperial palace"; later, the sample coins of the long-bearded dragon, the short-bearded dragon, the big-tailed dragon, and the anti-dragon pattern "fell off the list", and the "silver coins" of the Qushu dragon pattern were officially minted and circulated.
The "unsuccessful" long-bearded dragon, short-bearded dragon, large-tailed dragon, and anti-dragon pattern sample coins have rarely survived, and naturally have become the objects of pursuit by collectors of ancient coins at home and abroad; according to the data, in the 1980s, a "long-bearded dragon silver coin of the three-year Great Qing Dynasty" was sold at an overseas auction at a "sky-high price".
In 1997, at the first silver coin and copper dollar auction in Shanghai, the "long-bearded dragon and anti-dragon silver coins" were sold at a price of 170,000 and 60,000 respectively; these "sample coins" had appeared long ago, but no "gold sample coins" appeared, and only two were known, and they were all scattered overseas.
It is rumored that one "gold coin" was collected by King Farouq of Egypt, and the other was auctioned by the overseas "Sotheby's Auction Company" in 1954, and its whereabouts are still unknown; in 2004, the "Xuanun Three-Year Great Qing Silver Coin Long Beard Dragon One Round Gold Coin" appeared at the Beijing Guardian Auction, which caused a huge sensation as soon as it appeared.
The appearance of this ancient coin, as well as the story of "pancake treasure", together carry the history of China; whether from the perspective of "gold" minting technology or from the perspective of historical significance, the transaction price of "1.76 million" is reasonable.