Item number: A1318

Year: AD 1952

Material: Copper

Size: 28.8 x 28.8 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 7.8 g

Provenance: Teutoburger Münzauktion GmbH 2023

This is a 5 Sho copper coin, minted in the 26th year of the 16th Rabjung (AD 1952) by the de facto independent Tibetan government. Among Chinese-speaking collectors, the Tibetan term for “5 Sho” is phonetically transliterated as “Xue’a.” The Xue’a copper coins were minted between AD 1947 and AD 1953, with two main obverse designs: the “Twin Suns” and the “Sun Crescent” types. This coin belongs to the “Sun Crescent Version” minted between AD 1950 and AD 1953.

The obverse of the coin features a decorative bead circle around its edge. At the centre is a lion against a backdrop of snow mountains. To the left of the mountain peak is a crescent moon, while the right side displays a sun, surrounded by swirling clouds. The “Snow Mountain Lion” motif is derived from the military flag designed by the 13th Dalai Lama, inspired by the ancient Tibetan Empire’s banners. Today, it serves as a symbolic emblem for the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and the Tibetan independence movement.

The reverse of the coin features an eight-petalled lotus flower, with Tibetan inscriptions on each petal reading: “དགའ་ལྡན་ཕོ་བྲང་ ཕྱོ་ ལས་རྣམ་ རྣམ་རྒྱལ།” (dga’ ldan pho brang phyo(gs) las rnam rgyal), which translates to “Ganden Phodrang, victorious in all directions.” The term “Ganden Phodrang” refers to the residence of the Dalai Lamas at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa before assuming full political authority, symbolising the power of the Dalai Lama. At the centre of the lotus, there is a slightly worn Tibetan inscription in three lines, indicating the Tibetan calendar year: “རབ་བྱུང་ ༡༦ ལོ་༢༦” (16th Rabjung Cycle, 26th Year), and the coin’s denomination, “ཉོ་ལྔ།” (Five Sho).

In AD 1911, following the expulsion of Qing forces stationed in Lhasa, Tibet, under the leadership of the 13th Dalai Lama, embarked on significant modernisation efforts. These included the establishment of a new mint on the outskirts of Lhasa, symbolising Tibet’s de facto independence from both the Beijing and Nanjing governments of China. However, after the 13th Dalai Lama’s passing in AD 1931, these reforms came to a standstill. In AD 1950, after suffering defeat in the Battle of Chamdo, Tibet was compelled to sign the Seventeen-Point Agreement, marking the beginning of its control by the Chinese Communist government.

物件編號: A1318

年代: 公元 1952 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 28.8 x 28.8 x 1.4 mm

重量: 7.8 g

來源: 條頓堡錢幣拍賣 2023

這是一枚於藏曆第16繞迥的26年 (公元1952年)，實質獨立的西藏政府鑄造的五錢銅幣，華文世界收藏家直譯五錢的藏語音譯為「雪阿」。雪阿銅幣的鑄造時間為公元1947至1953年，按照正面的圖騰主要分為「雙日」和「日月」兩種版型。這枚錢幣屬於公元1950至1953年鑄造的「日月版」。

錢幣正面的周圍以一道珠圈作為裝飾，正中間是一隻以雪山作為背景的獅子，山頂的左側為新月，右側則是太陽並且在周圍有雲霧繚繞。「雪山獅子」是達賴十三世以古代的吐蕃帝國軍旗為藍本設計的軍旗，現在則是西藏流亡政府和獨立運動的代表性圖騰。

錢幣背面為一個八瓣蓮花，花瓣上的藏文是「དགའ་ལྡན་ཕོ་བྲང་ ཕྱོ་ ལས་རྣམ་ རྣམ་རྒྱལ།」(dga’ ldan pho brang phyo(gs) las rnam rgyal)，意思是「噶單頗章諸方全勝」。「噶單頗章」是歷代達賴親政前於拉薩哲蚌寺的居所，亦是代表達賴擁有的權力。正中央的圓心則有三行些許磨損的藏文，其內容為藏曆年份「རབ་བྱུང་ ༡༦ ལོ་༢༦」(第16繞迥的26年) 以及面額「ཉོ་ལྔ།」(五錢)。

公元1911年，駐紮於拉薩的清軍遭到驅逐之後，西藏於達賴十三世統治下大舉推動近代化，包含在拉薩近郊新建造幣廠，並且維持實質獨立於北京或南京中國政府的政治地位。公元1931年，達賴十三世圓寂之後，相關的改革陷入停滯。公元1950年西藏在昌都戰役遭到解放軍挫敗後，被迫簽訂《十七條協議》就此遭到中共的控制。