Yuan Shikai silver dollar (one yuan)

The silver coin laid down by the National Currency Regulations in the 3rd year of the Republic (1914). On the obverse the profile of Yuan Shikai; on the reverse, ears of grain and the two characters 'one yuan'. It is not weighed on scales like the sycee: one piece counts as one yuan. Commonly called the 'Yuan big head', it was accepted across the whole of China even in the age when warlords divided the land.