Collectible Coin: The 1928 Chinese Zhang Zoulin Coin or The Mukden Tiger Dollar

Around the world, each country has a certain Coin that is at times, not just rare, but rather became so expensive because of a story

One Chinese coin which is certified by Sarasota-based Numismatic Guaranty Company, was sold at an auction for more than two million US Dollars (US $2 M).

The vintage coin, which depicts the warlord Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin (Zhāng Zuòlín; March 19, 1875 – June 4, 1928), nicknamed Zhang Laogang, was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928, and the military dictator of the Republic of China in 1927 and 1928, he rose from banditry to power and influence.

Backed by Japan, Zhang successfully influenced politics in the Republic of China during the early 1920s. In fall of 1924 during the Second Zhili–Fengtian War, he invaded and gained control of Peking, including the internationally recognized government, in April 1926. His appointment as grand marshal of the Republic of China in June 1927 represented the height of his success, but was quickly followed by defeat: the economy of Manchuria, the basis of his power, was overtaxed by his adventurism and collapsed in the winter of 1927; and he was defeated by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in May 1928. Leaving Beijing in early June to return to Manchuria, he was killed by a bomb planted by infuriated Kwantung Army officers on June 4, 1928; his brief reign presaged the end of Chinese warlordism by December.

His assassination by members of the Japanese Kwantung Army made way for the eventual invasion of Manchuria.

Zhang Zoulin coin or better known as The Mukden Tiger coin was sold for $2.16 million at Heritage Auctions' Hong Kong World Coins Signature Auction. The coin was initially expected to go for between $300,000 and $500,000, according to a press release from Numismatic Guaranty Company.

It depicts Zuolin, a warlord also known as the "Mukden Tiger." He gained the Chinese presidency in 1927 and ruled for a year before he was driven from power and assassinated.

"When given a rare opportunity to buy an ultra-rarity such as this one, bidders want to be assured that the coin is genuine and accurately graded," Ben Wengel, senior grading finalizer of world coins at NGC said. "The marketplace has clearly embraced vintage Chinese coins that are certified by NGC."

According to the US auction house, the example on offer is “one of those must-have coins that is arguably as famous as the man whose portrait appears on it.

"One of the most powerful warlords in 1920s China, Chang Tso-lin (Zhang Zuolin) was portrayed on a small series of Patterns from the silver Dollar up to a gold 50 Dollar piece produced during his short-lived hold over Beijing and Tientsin from 1926 to 1928.

"His coins remain some of the rarest and most highly sought after of all Republican issues, numerous examples of which have been known to have set all-time price records when they came to auction.”

Cheerio!