Hand Engraved Gems from Shanghai Mint – Palace Lantern Series Coin-Shaped Medals

 By Haoyu Li

Shanghai Mint went through many changes after its establishment in 1920, but ever since its early days, there has been a very important position at Shanghai Mint – hand-engraving, which means directly engraving designs on steel dies. This position plays an important role at the mint. It is needed not only for the making and repairing all the hubs and dies in the facility, but is also an indispensable and important link in the entire production process.

Hand-engraving can be traced way back into history. In the old days, the master hubs for ancient Chinese coins were hand-engraved. Since its establishment, Shanghai Mint has witnessed five hand-engraver generations, from the first generation hand engraver Zhou Zhijun (1894-1937) who studied under Luigi George at Tianjin Mint, to the second generation masters Dong Yiqian and Tao Binglin, then to the well-known third generation hand-engravers Ye Bailin, Xian Zhaokun, Wei Yongming, Ye Zhonghua, Fang Maosen, Zeng Chenghu, Yi Shizhong, Gong Yiting, etc., and finally to the fourth and fifth generation teams of Lou Yufeng, Huang Zhiyi, Wang Junsong, etc. It can be claimed that the heritage has been well preserved and passed on from one generation to the next. The late 1970s and early 1980s were the peak of hand engraving at Shanghai Mint as well as across China. During this time, the third-generation hand engraving masters of Shanghai Mint worked together as well as completed with each other to create classic products that will last forever. The Palace Lantern series stands out as the best among these products, and is highly sought after by collectors. There are many designs and versions of the Palace Lantern series. Some are very hard to find. Many collector friends called me for information about them, and so I am offering a general summary, in an attempt to help them out.

So far four designs on the palace lantern side have been found, all with a diameter of 27 mm, as shown in the pictures below:

Figure One: palace lantern + 1980 date + Chinese and English Names of China Mint (with the font in regular script). The Chinese and English names of China Mint on this palace lantern design are rather crudely engraved. In fact, it should be understood that it is not easy to hand engrave Chinese characters. It is possible that this version of the palace lantern design was never released and has never been seen on the market just because the engraved characters were not up to the standard. It is kept internally at the Mint only. So no time will be spent discussing it.

Figure 2: palace lantern + 1980 date + Chinese and English Names of China Mint (with the font in running script). This improved running script font is much more graceful, and was used for official releases later on. My guess is that the text was possibly made on a clay model and then transferred via a reducing machine. This proves the difficulty of hand engraving. This version of the palace lantern design with the 1980 date started production in 1979, and is very hard to find.

Figure 3: palace lantern + Chinese and English Names of China Mint (with the font in running script), with no date. The production time of this version of the palace lantern design should also be in the early 1980s, but slightly later than those with the 1980 date. It is seen more often on the market.

Figure 4: palace lantern, no date, no mint name. This version is a gold-plated restrike produced in the 1990s, common on the market.

So far 9 reverse designs have been found for the coin-shaped medals with the palace lantern obverse from Shanghai Mint in the 1980s. They are described below. (Just a few days ago, one more deign was found, with the God of Longevity on the reverse - translator.)

1. Palace Lantern with the Bund Reverse

See Figure 5 for Palace Lantern with the Bund Reverse. The palace lantern obverse was hand engraved by Yi Shizhong, and the Bund reverse is the same design as found in the Shanghai Scenery medal set, only reduced further in size by the reducing machine. Only one specimen has been found with the 1980 date, so it is extremely rare. Only the proof brass version is available. Gold-plated restrikes have never been encountered.

The rarity rating is as follows. (★ is the lowest, and ★★★★★ the highest on the rarity scale.)

2. Palace Lantern with the Reverse Showing the Forbidden City's Corner Tower

See Figure 6 for Palace Lantern with the Corner Tower Reverse. The palace lantern obverse was hand engraved by Yi Shizhong, and the reverse was hand-engraved by Fang Maosen. I talked to Mr. Fang about this medal. He appeared very satisfied with the engraving of the corner tower of the Forbidden City. This should be Mr. Fang's prized work. Only a few specimens with the 1980 date are known to exist, which makes them very rare. Only the proof brass version is available. Gold-plated restrikes have never been encountered.

3. Palace Lantern with Auspicious Animals

See Figure 7 for Palace Lantern with Auspicious Animals. This set of Palace Lantern medals with Auspicious Animals is the collective work of many hand-engraving masters at Shanghai Mint: the palace lantern obverse was hand engraved by Yi Shizhong as usual. On the reverse side, the dragon and phoenix design and the two dragons design were hand-engraved by Ye Zhonghua; the single phoenix design by Gong Yiting; the cranes design by Yi Shizhong; the lion and qilin designs by Fang Maosen; the elephant design by Ye Bailin. These medals appear both with and without the 1980 date, and those with the 1980 date are considered rare. A master hand-engraver at Shanghai Mint believes that the Auspicious Animals medals should be a set of 6 pieces. The Dragon and Phoenix medal does not have dots around the rim on the dragon and phoenix side, and so it was made separately from the set. But as the theme is similar to the other six pieces, it is easily classified into the same category. This point of view is quite reasonable. The early sterling silver (or white copper) Palace Lantern medals with auspicious animals from Shanghai Mint were a set of 6, and the dragon and phoenix design was not included, as shown in Figure 8. It is also absent from the gold-plated restrike set from the 1990s (with no date or mint name), as shown in Figure 9. I don't know if it was a coincidence or intentional.

The early Palace Lantern medals with the China Mint name on them are mostly proof medals made of brass, but they also have gold-plated versions. These gold-plated products from the 1980s are even rarer on the market than those without gold plating. Gold plating was used on high-end items at that time. I acquired one specimen by chance. The two characters Medal Pattern are written on the box. I have no idea what they exactly mean. See Figure 10.

Apart from these, there is also a set of "white" Palace Lantern medals. Some say they are made of 925 sterling silver, while others claim that the metal is white copper (copper-nickel alloy). Their weight is between 8 grams and 9 grams each. Further research is needed on the material. They are extremely rare on the market. See Figure 11.

Then, in the 1990s, Shanghai Mint produced crystal balls of Auspicious Animals, a set of 6 pieces containing gold-plated medals with no date or the mint name. These are pretty common. See Figure 12.

Here is a summary of the rarity ratings of the different Auspicious Animals medals, based on different materials and versions.

The Palace Lantern series, with its auspicious implications, is highly prized by Chinese collectors. They are mostly hand-engraved, with exquisite designs. In the early days they were sold as high-end works of art. I once bought a set of two Palace Lantern medals, with an invoice attached from the Shanghai No. 1 Department Store. The No. 1 Department Store was one of the four major dealers of Shanghai Mint before the Franchised Dealership of Shanghai Mint went into operation. These two proof Palace Lantern brass medals with the 1980 date sold for as much as 11 yuan in 1981. See Figure 13. Considering the wage level at the time, it would be difficult for the Chinese to buy them. So many Palace Lantern series medals were sold overseas. Those with the 1980 date, in particular, are very rare in China, but they are relatively easy to acquire in other countries. They have become great options for both collection and investment.

Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum: A Set of Medals with Strong Chinese Themes

As I mentioned in my previous post (http://modern-chinese-numismatic-info.blogspot.in/2015/05/medals-made-from-hand-engraved-dies-at.html), the Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum (POBC) set was hand engraved by the Shanghai Mint artist Bai Wenjun. As the number of restrikes in brass from the 1990's was pretty large, it is still easily available on the market, the price ranging from $100 to $500 depending on the condition. Before anyone decides to buy the set, though, it might be helpful to know what the set is about.

1. Cultural Background
It may be strange to anyone outside the Chinese culture that Bai Wenjun would group these four plants in a set. But these have been known since ancient China as Four Nobles among plants, each with its own distinctive characteristics, or "virtues" as seen by ancient Chinese scholars. They have been the favorite topics of artistic creation. Numerous poems and paintings on the Four Nobles have been created.

Plum is actually a misnomer, or mistranslation. Plum (Prunus salicina) is a plant that flowers in early spring and produces sweet fruit. The plant in question ranking among the Four Nobles should be Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus) native to China. It flowers in winter, giving out strong fragrance, under snow and frost:

It is this unique feature that won the admiration of ancient Chinese scholars. It is seen as a symbol of thriving in an adverse environment, an inspiration for those who find themselves in difficulty but nevertheless hope for reverse of their fate through perseverance. Also, Winter Sweet flowers bloom ahead of other flowers, making it a harbinger for the approaching spring. To make this point, Bai Wenjun added the line 梅破知春近 (splitting of winter sweet flower buds ushers in spring) to the design. Here is a traditional Chinese painting of Winter Sweet in Snow:

The Chinese character for plum/winter sweet, 梅 ("mei" in Chinese Pinyin), is a favorite name of females in China. The wife of Claire Lee Chennault, the commander of the Flying Tigers, was Chen Xiangmei, or chen (family name) – fragrant - plum/winter sweet flower.

Orchid is very fragrant, too. Yet it ranks among the Four Nobles not just because of its fragrance, but also because of its locale. Often, orchids are found in remote mountainous areas, sending out fragrance all by themselves, without concerns about attention from anyone else. It symbolizes independent character, and indifference to worldly hubbub. In fact the Chinese translation for Road to Heaven - Encounters with Chinese Hermits by Bill Porter means "Serene Orchids in a Hollow Valley." Historically, many high court officials saw ups and downs of their own fate. When they were banished from the court, they became hermits, or orchids in the mountains, remote from the power center, but with no less virtue. Bai Wenjun added the line 只留清香满乾坤 (Leave everlasting delicate fragrance all over the universe) to the design. A Chinese can fill in the first half of the sentence, which would be "However fate treats one."

The Chinese character for orchid, 兰 ("lan" in Chinese Pinyin), is another frequent character adopted in female Chinese names. The former Labor Department Secretary Elaine Chao's Chinese name is Zhao Xiaolan, or zhao (family name) – little – orchid.

Bamboo has been admired for its uprightness. It does not bend; it does not branch, going straight up, standing firm in storms and snow. It embodies the character of integrity. Lines from the famous Chinese poet Su Shi best express this admiration for bamboo: "I'd rather eat without meat, than to live without bamboo around. Eating without meat makes one physically thin, but living without bamboo around makes one morally low." These lines are known to all educated Chinese.

Chrysanthemum was picked because of its blossom season. Unlike most flowers, it blossoms in fall. Instead of competing with other flowers in spring, it leaves the glory to others in season, and contributes its share when other flowers have had their best day. On the medal Bai Wenjun left these characters: 秋日胜春朝 (a day in fall outshines a spring morning), to make this point. Color-wise, instead of being loud and noisy, chrysanthemum is pure and serene, adding simplicity to its modesty. Yet it is a fighter, too. It shows off its colors proudly in late fall against the attack of early frost. It is worth noting that the Japanese royal family adopted chrysanthemum as their symbol, although this flower was not even native to Japan. Needless to say, chrysanthemum is also a character adopted in Chinese names, mostly female names.

The reverse of the POBC set is a sharp contrast to the spirit represented by the Four Nobles. To this side, Bai Wenjun added the favorite themes of the common folks in everyday life: blessing in life, fortune, martial happiness and longevity. For lack of better designs or shortage of time, Bai only engraved the characters 禄 (fortune) and the exaggerated form of 寿 (longevity) on the medals with some shapes around.

Shapes around 禄 are typical decorative ones. But those around the character 寿 (longevity) are actually bats. Unlike Westerners who see bats in a negative light, the Chinese often add bats to designs of happiness and longevity, because its name is a homophone to the Chinese character meaning happiness/blessing. The reverse of the God of Longevity also features the bat shapes:

Blessing in life is represented by two fish jumping out of water. It is taken from the story of carps jumping over rapids/water falls in a location called Longmen (dragon gate), to turn into dragons and fly away. It is a metaphor for change of one's life for the better through hard work.

Here is a Chinese painting of the same theme:

Marital happiness is symbolized by two duck-like water birds, which the Chinese call Yuanyang. They are said to be extremely loyal to each other. Once they mate, they are never separated.

The double happiness character (囍) in the middle is typically used for the new weds. As if these marital symbols were not enough, some outlines of lotus flowers were added. Twin lotus flowers on the same stalk are often compared to a devoted couple:

Of course, the heart shape won't escape anyone's attention either. The crowded symbols of happy marriage seem overdone, in sharp contrast to the simplicity and elegance of the design on the obverse.

There is no logical explanation why such worldly themes were added to a set featuring the Four Nobles. Probably Bai Wenjun was playing safe, to appeal to both the intellectuals and common folks to ensure good sales. Yet the set is known as the Four Nobles. There are other medals for longevity, fortune, marital happiness and blessing in life. But this is the only set dedicated to the four plants.

2. The Style of the Design
Bai Wenjun followed the style of Chinese painting in designing this medal set. Here is a comparison of Bai's Bamboo with a traditional Chinese painting:

Similarity between his Orchid and orchids in traditional Chinese painting is obvious, too:

As in traditional Chinese paintings, lines of text are added to the shapes, to drive the point home. Only Bamboo does not have a line of text in its design.

3. Versions of the Set
The POBC set was first released in brass in 1981. It was restruck later, presumably in the 1990's, in brass as well as in gilt brass. The good news is that at the moment, there has been little research on the differences between the original strike and the restrikes. It means that unlike brass pagodas, which saw a more than 100% price gap between the original strike and the restrikes, the original strike of POBC can still be obtained at a relatively cheap price.

The original strike presumably was packaged in long wooden boxes, similar to those housing pagodas and goldfish:

The flower shape on one of the boxes indicates the Four Nobles set. On another type of long box are the Chinese characters 中国名花 (best known Chinese flowers):

But boxes are not 100% reliable for distinguishing the different strikes, for two reasons. First, it appears that Shanghai Mint did not use up all the boxes for the initial release in the early 1980's. Some such boxes were still available in the 1990's. Second, empty boxes can be filled with restrikes.

Typical packaging of the restrikes includes two types of boxes:

The square box and the plastic panel are generic boxes, with no indication of what medals are inside. The color of the filler inside the plastic panel can be either red or green.

There is even gift packaging. The following sets were gifts from the Shandong Branch of the People's Bank of China:

Gilt sets are found in those boxes, as well as in special boxes customized for the set. On the square box the name of the medal set is specified:

On the long box are Chinese characters 中国名花 (best known Chinese flowers).

These boxes look a lot newer than the boxes from the early 1980's.

Lastly, there are screens embedded with the brass or gilt brass set, presumably made in the 1990's:

Images of the Four Nobles are painted on the screens to match the medals. The other side, however, is blank.

More research is on-going to tell the original strike from the restrikes. In the meantime, enjoy the superb hand-engraved art with strong Chinese themes, whether such themes are elevated/lofty or worldly and close to life.

Medals Made from Hand-Engraved Dies at Shanghai Mint

1. Die Making Process

Before reducing machines (the most famous of which was the Javier reducing machine: https://medalblog.wordpress.com/tag/reducing-machine/) were invented, die makers engraved directly on the die blank of the size of the coin, to produce a negative image of the coin to be struck. It was slow, and it required years of experience to master the skill. (Even today, according to Zeng Chenghu, a hand-engraver needs at least five years of training before being able to work independently.) Introduction of the reducing machine eliminated this manual die making process, as artists could design a positive image on a much larger clay model, to be reduced to the actual coin size using the machine. Manual work on the various dies and hubs is still needed at the mint for die polishing and repair work. But the art of hand-engraving on coin sized dies is largely lost.

2. Shanghai Mint’s Effort to Carry on the Hand-Engraving Tradition

Shanghai Mint has a long tradition of hand-engraving on steel dies. According to Zeng Chenghu, the designer and engraver of the Pagoda set, there have been five generations of hand-engravers, starting from 1933 (http://bbs.bqcoin.com/read-htm-tid-4867-toread-1-page-1.html). Two schools of hand-engraving co-existed and intermingled at Shanghai Mint: the Western style using engraving knives and the Chinese style using engraving chisels. Dozens of artists were trained in hand-engraving. The most recent hand-engraving training class at Shanghai Mint was run in 2006. Unfortunately, coin-size medals from hand-engraved dies were only produced in the early 1980's. Recent medals made with hand-engraved dies are large copper ones.

Zeng Chenghu hand-engraving a medal die:

3. Steps to Make Hand-Engraved Dies

There are four steps in hand-engraving a steel die:

a. Transfer the design onto the die blank. The design needs to be transferred in a reserved image 1:1 onto the die blank, as the engraved device will be negative.
b. Preliminary engraving. The outlines of the image are compared against the design or the physical model. The highest point of the design is located, and a rough shape of the design is engraved, with differentiated layers.
c. Detailed engraving. Fine tuning of the engraved image is performed by working on the details of the design. Different layers are adjusted.
d. Overall check. When hand-engraving is complete, a complete checkup is performed on the die, to see whether the whole image is precise, whether the layers on the die are well defined and whether the overall effect is perfect. Further polishing may be needed.

Zeng Chenghu mentioned that normally hand-engraved dies are polished, to remove the sharp lines left by knives and/or chisels, so that the image will appear smooth. But at times, the artist would decide to leave part of the image or the entire image unpolished, for contrast or for special effect. In the following picture of the Songyue Temple medal, the tower itself is polished, while the hills and trees remain unpolished, showing sharp outlines: (Click to see a big picture)

The Goldfish medals have the fish bodies polished, but not their tails. Also note the sharp lines on the water weed:(Click to see a big picture)

The orchid leaves in the picture below are obviously unpolished, too: (Click to see a big picture)

The hand-engraved die will be hardened and used as the master die, from which working hubs are made, and then working dies are made from the working hubs. As hand-engraved dies eliminate the use of the reducing machine (or its modern equivalent of a high definition scanner and precision mill), details are better preserved. Here is a comparison of the two processes:

Regular die making: clay model -> plaster model -> galvano -> master hub -> master die -> working hub -> working die

Hand-engraved dies:  master die -> working hub -> working die

Hand-engraving on steel dies is an extremely slow process. It was reported that Bai Wenjun, a hand engraver at Shanghai Mint, took almost a year  (on and off) to hand-engrave the dies of the Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum medal set:

 Zeng Chenghu admitted that it took him more than a year (on and off) to hand engrave the 4 sides on his Pagoda set:

 In recent years, pneumatic tools have been introduced into the hand-engraving process for preliminary engraving.

4. An Incomplete List of the Early Hand-Engraved Medals from Shanghai Mint

The peak time for hand-engraving came when Shanghai Mint just started commemorative coin and medal production, from 1979 to the mid 1980’s. As hand-engraving is slow, it was never used to produce coin dies which had a short deadline. Instead, most hand engraved dies were used to strike brass medals (and silver medals of the same design, such as Goldfish, Pagodas and Li Qingzhao). Some of these brass medals were restruck in the 1990’s, such as Pagodas, Goldfish, Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum and the Auspicious Palace Lantern series, but some were never restruck in brass, such as Cao Xueqin, Li Qingzhao and Shrimps and Crabs. In addition, gilt and silver plated versions were produced in the 1990's, which have less details as the gold/silver coating tends to cover them up.

Below is an incomplete list of early medals made from hand-engraved dies by Shanghai Mint. I did my best to locate the photos from my own collection and from the web.

a. Auspicious Palace Lantern (1980): all the following brass medals share the same reverse of a palace lantern.

Reverse by Yi Shizhong

 Obverse
Palace Corner Tower, by Fang Maosen

 Phoenix, by Gong Yiting

 Dragon and Phoenix, by Ye Zhonghua

Double Dragon, by Zeng Chenghu

Elephant, by Ye Bolin

Lion, by Fang Maosen

Qilin, by Fang Maosen

Cranes, by Yi Shizhong

Note: those with the date "1980" are extremely hard to find. Medals without "1980" are restrikes, which are more readily available. This set also has a gilt version.

It is a mystery why so many hand-engravers contributed to the set. Probably it was a show of talent at the end of a hand-engraving training class?

b. Pagodas, by Zeng Chenghu

Note: the reverse is not hand-engraved, but etched. Brass original strikes are very few. Restrikes in the 1990's are more readily available. It has both gilt and silver plated restrikes.

c. Goldfish, by Yi Shizhong

Note: the reverse is not hand-engraved, but etched. Brass original strikes are very few. Restrikes were said to be made. It has both gilt and silver plated restrike versions.

d. Flowers and the Moon, by Yi Shizhong

 Note: This set has been reproduced in silver by Shanghai Mint recently in a difference size, by scanning and re-making of the dies, losing much of the original details and style.

e. Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum, by Bai Wenjun

 Note: There are restrikes of this set and a gilt version. The restrikes are pretty common.

f. Li Qingzhao, by Bai Wenjun

 Note: This medal was restruck in stained and plated copper versions.

g. Cao Xueqin, by Fang Maosen

Note: This medal was restruck in stained and plated copper versions.

h. Shrimps and Crabs, by Bai Wenjun

Note: This medal was restruck in gilt version.

i. Fortune and Marital Happiness, by Zeng Chenghu

j. Famous Ancient Towers, by Huang Jian

 It is an exception here as this set was made in the 1990's. It is strange that this set only has a gilt version.

The following picture shows the details on part of Lion (Click to see the original size):