Memento dollar

Memento dollar
ValueOne yuan (壹圓)
Mass26.9 g
Diameter36.9 mm (1.5 in)
Thickness2.5 mm (0.098 in) mm
Edgereeded
CompositionSilver (.900 fineness)
Years of minting1912, 1927, 1949
Obverse
DesignA portrait of Sun Yat-sen with peach blossoms
DesignerHe Ziliang
Design date1912
Reverse
DesignInscription commemorating the founding of the Republic of China
DesignerHe Ziliang
Design date1912

The Memento dollar is a silver dollar minted in the Republic of China. Designed by Nanjing Mint engraver He Ziliang, it was introduced as a commemorative piece celebrating the inauguration of Sun Yat-sen as the first President of the Republic of China in 1912. Its production was revived by the Nationalist government in 1927 as a temporary replacement for the Yuan Shikai dollar; following delays in securing a suitable replacement, it was succeeded by the junk dollar following the opening of the Shanghai Central Mint in 1932. Following hyperinflation during the last stages of the Chinese Civil War, small numbers of the pieces were produced at the Canton Mint for several months in 1949.

The coins were struck in .900 fineness silver with a diameter of 36.9 mm (1.45 in) and a weight of 26.9 g (0.95 oz). It features a portrait of Sun Yat-sen on the obverse, surrounded by peach blossoms; this portrait was described as poorly rendered by numismatist Eduard Kann due to rushed production. On the reverse, a wreath of rice and beans encircles the denomination of 壹圓; 'one yuan'. Smaller twenty and ten-cent denominations of the coin were also produced, of which only the twenty-cent circulated.