This commemorative dollar (actual denomination on one side 'one yuan' and on the other 'Seven Mace and Two Candareens') was struck in 1928, and has a very low mintage of only 648 pieces. The governor of the province wished to have not only his car shown on the coin but his portrait as well, however his Feng Shui advisors warned him that his likeness appearing on the coin would put his life in jeopardy, but he was determined lo leave his mark, so had his name in Chinese characters hidden in the blades of grass below the car. His feng shui masters were unhappy with this compromise. The next year while leading his troops in the same car shown on the coin, he was ambushed by enemy forces. He got out of his car to try and escape, but was killed by the side of the road.
The "key" piece to any collection of New Zealand coins is the commemorative crown issued in 1935. With only 1128 pieces struck, of those only 468 being proofs, it is a true rarity. New Zealand first issued it's own coinage in 1933, prior to this British and a small amount of Australian coinage circulated.The crown was originally intended to have been issued in 1933 but there were delays involved in it's design and production. In the imperial coinage system (used in New Zealand until 1967) a crown is quarter of a pound = 2 1/2 florins = 5 shillings = 15 groats = 60 pennies = 240 farthings. To keep it simple just think one pound = 20 shillings. One shilling = 12 pence. Needless to say decimal currency made things alot simpler. See also Halfcrown 1934
