On 12 November 1866 Sun Yat-sen was born in the village of Cuiheng, Guangdong: the man revered in Taiwan as the Father of the Nation and in the People’s Republic as the Forerunner of the Revolution. This 2016 five-yuan coin marks the 150th anniversary of his birth: the reverse shows his portrait and the inscription SUN ZHONGSHAN XIANSHENG DANCHEN 150 ZHOUNIAN, «150th anniversary of the birth of Mr Sun Yat-sen».

The obverse shows Sun Yat-sen’s house in his home village with the inscription SUN ZHONGSHAN GUJU («Former residence of Sun Yat-sen»), the denomination WU YUAN and the country name. A physician by training, who graduated from the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1892, Sun Yat-sen led the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that ended Qing rule, served as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China from January to March 1912, founded the Kuomintang and formulated the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy and the people’s livelihood.

The mintage was 300 million: this is a mass-issued circulating commemorative, and its appeal for collectors lies in a figure honoured on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Grade UNC: the coin never circulated, shows no wear and keeps its mint lustre.

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