Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

Inside Ma Hongwei's bedroom.

A box was placed to the side.

Ma Hongwei and Xia Weiwei took off their shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed.

Ma Hongwei took several handfuls of silver dollars from the box and scattered them on the bed.

Ma Hongwei said, "We've been selling Yuan Shikai silver dollars before, and we've already sold quite a few. This time, we'll look for Qing Dynasty silver coins!"

This Qing Dynasty silver coin, also known as the 1911 Xuantong Third Year Qing Dynasty Silver Coin, was minted in 1911 by the Tianjin Mint and designed by the Italian engraver Louis George. It is also called Xuan San or Dragon Dollar.

Because the Xinhai Revolution broke out in 11, leading to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, this coin was minted in small quantities and has a limited number of surviving examples, so its value is higher than that of the Yuan Shikai silver dollar.

Even the lowest quality Quxulong is worth 3000-5000 yuan.

For items in ordinary circulating condition, the price is 7500-9000 yuan.

The finest specimens can be worth between 1 and 15 yuan, while high-grade specimens of the original light-colored curved dragon can reach over 20 yuan.

In addition, there were four other trial coins: Long-Bearded Dragon, Short-Bearded Dragon, Large-Tailed Dragon, and Reverse Dragon.

The two examined the five different types of silver coins together before taking action.

The number of Qing Dynasty silver coins is far less than the number of Yuan Shikai silver dollars.

The two sifted through several handfuls of silver dollars, but only found about twenty Qing Dynasty silver coins, and they were all the most common curved-beard dragon coins.

Soon, Ma Hongwei brought up several more handfuls of silver dollars.

As Xia Weiwei was browsing, she suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Hongwei, Hongwei, look at this one!"

As she spoke, she handed the silver coins in her hand directly to Ma Hongwei.

"Holy crap, it's a long-bearded dragon!"

Upon seeing this, Ma Hongwei couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He picked up a freshly dried curved-beard dragon and compared it with a long-beard dragon.

The dragon's whiskers are naturally curved and flowing, its body is stretched out, and its tail is of moderate length. The English "ONE DOLLAR" lettering on the back is relatively short.

In contrast, this long-bearded dragon has a larger head and body, with its whiskers gradually changing in three sections. The base is thicker, while the ends are thin and vertical, reaching right next to the characters "壹圆" (One Yuan). The dragon scales are fine and three-dimensional, creating a strong sense of relief.

"It really is a long-bearded dragon!"

Ma Hongwei exclaimed excitedly, "Weiwei, we're rich! We're rich! This long-bearded dragon is even more valuable than the Soviet version of the Yuan Shikai silver dollar!"

The Long-Bearded Dragon coin was a trial coin, or a candidate sample coin for the late Qing Dynasty's monetary reform, so very few were produced.

Due to official recycling, melting down, and looting during wartime, fewer than 100 pieces remain in existence. The average price is between 3 million and 6 million, with high-grade pieces reaching tens of millions!

Among them, a Long Beard Dragon coin sold for RMB 9.2 million at Poly Auction in March of this year (26 years ago).

This currency is also the most popular among the Xuanwu Five Dragon Dollars.

Ma Hongwei never expected that among these silver coins, there would actually be one with a long beard.

But thinking about it, there must be more surviving products from the Republican era than from later periods.

As for how these currencies ended up in the hands of the Eighth Route Army...

Ma Hongwei guessed that it was obtained from the Northeast Army.

These currencies were all produced by the Tianjin Mint. Zhang Dashuai's Northeast Army had occupied Tianjin and Beijing before, and through looting and plundering, they were naturally able to obtain these currencies.

In any case, the general public didn't care whether it was a trial coin or not; as long as it was a silver dollar, it was valuable.

Later, the Northeast Army was transferred to the Northwest to fight against the Red Army, and thus fell into the hands of the Red Army.

"Snap!"

Ma Hongwei immediately took a picture and sent it to Yin Weimin, Tingquan Shangbao, and the boss from Beijing.

[Yin Weimin: "Holy crap, Brother Ma, you actually managed to get your hands on a long-bearded dragon?"]

[Yin Weimin: "Brother, my dear brother, you absolutely have to sell this coin to me! I'll sell everything I own, mortgage all my houses, I'll get you the money!"]

It's unclear whether Yin Weimin added it to his special list.

As soon as Ma Hongwei sent the photo, the other party replied immediately.

Upon seeing the message from the other party, Ma Hongwei picked up his phone and replied.

[Ma Hongwei: "Boss Yin, how about we change the cooperation method?"]

[Yin Weimin: "How about a different cooperation method?"]

[Yin Weimin: "How do we change it?"]

On the other end of the phone, Yin Weimin frowned and fell into deep thought.

Ma Hongwei: "You'll act as my appraiser and auctioneer, and I'll give you a percentage of the profits. The higher the price you sell it for, the higher your share will be."

[Ma Hongwei: "I guarantee that I have a large quantity of antiques and artifacts here. You will definitely make money if we cooperate long-term!"]

These businesses, whether operating offline or online, are primarily profit-driven.

To put it bluntly, they are all middlemen, or even more so.

They're sure they can still make a profit on the quote they gave Ma Hongwei.

After all, apart from true collectors, no one would be willing to do a losing business.

Even if Ma Hongwei "compare prices from three different vendors," these middlemen still have certain price standards. Once the price reaches a certain level, they won't raise it much further, so as to facilitate their profit.

That's why Ma Hongwei wanted to find a suitable person to trade directly with those bosses who wanted to collect.

Alternatively, find several collectors and organize a small private auction.

If you want to do this, you have to rely on the connections of these antique shops.

Yin Weimin and his son have been running an antique shop in Ancheng for many years, so they must have accumulated a lot of connections.

The reason Ma Hongwei sought out Yin Weimin was because Yin Weimin was not as wealthy or powerful as the others.

[Yin Weimin: "Brother Ma, I need to discuss this matter with the old man!"]

Ma Hongwei: "Okay, I'll wait for your message!"

Ma Hongwei put down his phone and continued filtering.

"Weiwei, I also have a special Xuan San silver coin!"

After screening for a while, Ma Hongwei suddenly exclaimed, "This is an even rarer short-bearded dragon!"

Although the Long-Bearded Dragon Coin is more popular, the Short-Bearded Dragon Coin is the king of the Xuan San series and the pinnacle of Qing Dynasty machine-made coins.

The reason for this is that the number of surviving specimens of the short-bearded dragon is even rarer, with only 8 known to exist.

Even if this kind of coin is in very poor condition and severely worn, it will still start at least at 800 million.

In June of this year (26 years ago), the Bai family's collection of short-bearded dragon pattern coins sold for a whopping US$488 million at the Hong Kong Harbour View Spring Auction.

Based on the current exchange rate, this short-bearded dragon coin is worth more than 3300 million RMB, making it the third most expensive coin in the world.

Ma Hongwei felt that the short-bearded dragon in his hand was in very good condition.

It might not sell for as much as at an auction house, but it could at least fetch over 2000 million yuan.

Adding the Long-Bearded Dragon coin from before, the two coins together are probably worth close to 3000 million yuan!