Speaking of collecting coins, probably everyone in the circle knows Li Weixian, and most of the numismatic articles are headed by him, but now future generations can understand very little, only know that he has a lot of coins.
Li Weixian, as a numismatic collector, is worthy of his name. He collected abundantly, and the coins came in strings; The wide collection, yuan coins and paper, gold, silver and bronze ancients, dazzling, so that many collectors praise staggering.
Coins are good to Li Weixian's heart, he looks for money, asks for money, gets money, and treats it as a treasure. But he not only saved himself in his heart, he loved "money", and he also understood righteousness, and he made countless donations in his life, with a total value of more than 100 million.
In addition, Li Wei was low-key first, a corner of peace, seeking a secluded life of immortals, but the world was chaotic, the sky was unsatisfactory, during the Cultural Revolution, Li Wei was first driven out of his home, and then died of poverty and illness in a hut of less than ten square meters, sad!
Recalling Li Weixian's life, he is like a meteor hidden in the world, glowing with light and heat, bringing surprises and shocks to people.
Now, with the passage of time, we no longer know whether the man lying on the sickbed will often remember the idle years of cooking tea and wine and being with coins before he dies.
Thanks to his friend Mr. Ma Dingxiang's son, who has written down his past for us, let's take a look at Mr. Ma Chuande's memories of Mr. Li Weixian.
Coin collector - Li Weixian
Author: Ma Chuande
Mr. Li Weixian and his father Ma Dingxiang met in 1945, when his father's "Xianghe Spring Coin Society" had just opened, and one day, a thin-looking and simple-dressed Cantonese man came to the store. After the visitor sat down, he chatted with his father about coins. The two hit it off at first sight, and they both had a feeling of hating each other. This visitor was Mr. Li Weixian, a numismatic collector.
Li Weixian. Li Weixian, alias Dantao, was born in the eighteenth year of Guangxu (1892) and was a native of Shiqi, Zhongshan, Guangdong. As the chief accountant of Shanghai Yongan Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory for a long time, he devoted all his ancestral inheritance and his life savings to collecting coins.
Li Weixian (left) and Ma Dingxiang (right) took a group photo.
The 40s of the 20th century was a prosperous period of coin collection and research in China. Shanghai is a gathering place for elites in China's spring industry, and there are about 10 shops that operate and concurrently engage in coin trading. Li Wei started with a three-bird coin, embarked on a long road of collecting coins, and became a master of coin collection.
Li Wei first used his spare time to explore treasures and find friends, but the people he met were either too profit-oriented, or they had shallow money knowledge and had no deep friendships for a while. At this time, Li Wei first got acquainted with his father. After several interactions, he felt that his father was a person who loved coins, studied hard, was knowledgeable, and had solid skills in counterfeiting, especially his father's loyal and honest-based business style, which made him feel more trusting of his father. Soon after, Mr. Li asked his father to purchase all kinds of gold and silver coins on his behalf, and acted as his broker and numismatic advisor.
Li Weixian's precious money rubbing, "Hidden Springs in the Waves" (inscribed by Ma Dingxiang).
Since then, most of the rare gold and silver coins obtained by my father have been sent to Mr. Li's house. At that time, most of the collections of famous artists such as Qin Ziwei, Xu Xiaohe, Wu Shijin, and Song Xiaopo were transferred to the Li family by their father. In fact, both Mr. Li and his father have such a habit that they never bargain with the other party when they like to identify coins, and they will also take the initiative to put forward the due price of the coin, so as not to let the other party suffer. Therefore, every time a rare coin is obtained by numismators everywhere, they are willing to give it to their father.
There are many types of collections
Li Weixian initially started by collecting gold and silver coins, and gradually expanded his scope to also collect copper dollars, ancient coins, paper money, etc., and finally became a series of numismatic collectors. At that time, the collection of gold and silver coins in China was most famous for the Austrians Geng Ed and Shi Jiagan, but Li Weixian's gold and silver coin collection was by no means inferior to these two people. In the past, the spring world has the south Zhang (Shu taming), the north (medicine rain), Bashu Luo (Bo Zhao) "three giants" said, but the collection of these three is mainly ancient money, and Li Weixian's collection is involved in gold and silver coins, copper yuan, ancient money, paper money four categories, in China's coin collectors only this one.
Western Han Dynasty horseshoe gold Li Weixian donated.
My father used to say that to become a collector, you must first have "eyesight", then "financial resources", and then "courage". Li Weixian had the financial resources back then, but he had the discernment to identify my father as his numismatic advisor, and he also had the courage to buy all kinds of coins recommended by my father.
Although Mr. Li was a wealthy numismatic collector, he kept a low profile, never showing his head and not participating in the activities of numismatic enthusiasts, such as the weekly meeting held by the China Spring Numismatic Society at Luozhai at that time. As a result, many of the numismatic community were unaware that Mr. Lee was collecting coins. It wasn't until 1963, when Mr. Li's donation was revealed, that people learned that there was such a big collector in Shanghai.
In the late 50s and early 60s of the 20th century, I visited the Li Mansion many times with my father, and the Li family was at No. 47, Lane 90, Qinghai Road, near Nanjing West Road. It was a detached three-storey garden house with a green garden in front of it. Mr. and Mrs. Li always prepared refreshments to receive my father and me.
Most of Mr. Li's coins and other collections are placed in special teak wall cabinets, and each drawer is full of long teak boxes, containing Chinese and foreign gold and silver coins, copper dollars, medals, medals, etc., which is dazzling. On a few occasions, when Mr. Lee was so happy that he invited our father and son upstairs to his bedroom to admire the precious coins that he was particularly fond of.
When my father went to Li's house, he mostly brought the coins that Mr. Li needed, and introduced the rarity to him one by one, and even told him his experience and tips for distinguishing the real from the fake. Mr. Li sometimes asks in detail, and the two are very engaged in talking. In 1954, my father received a "People's Democratic Republic of China Shanghai Liberation One Yuan Commemorative Coin" in the store, which was a copper original design pattern, and from the design and production methods of the coin, my father deduced that it was designed and engraved in 1949 to commemorate the liberation of Shanghai. Mr. Li Weixian agreed and happily bought it.
I wrote about this coin in the early '80s, when some people objected that it was a fake. In 2004, I learned that some people had confirmed that this liberation commemorative coin was indeed a treasure made at that time, which shows my father's rigorous academic attitude and also reflects that Mr. Li Weixian is a true treasure reader.
Noble character and noble friendship can be turned into extraordinary strength. Mr. Li Weixian and his father's natural relationship is an excellent complement to each other's advantages, and they have worked together for a long time to make silent contributions to China's numismatic culture. This is also a little-known story in modern Quantan. My father was not only like this to Li Weixian during his lifetime, but also to collectors such as Luo Bozhao, Wang Kangyuan, Sun Ding, and Shen Zicha, so these big collectors have infinite trust in my father.
On the other hand, some of the money merchants today are not like that. These people use gimmicks, coaxing, and deception to the seller, so that the other party is deceived; And for buyers, they use fake to make huge profits. Some people even make fake sales to achieve the purpose of defrauding customers. I returned to Shanghai from the United States in the early 90s of the 20th century, and a money dealer in Shanghai once told me that he bought a few fake copper coins from my father in Sichuan at the end of the 80s, because these copper coins were of high level and were not easy for ordinary people to recognize, but my father told the truth and gave up the price of counterfeit money.
Duan Zhigui "is like a commemorative medal, a red bronze medal."
In 1990, when my father saw an advertisement in the Japanese magazine "Collection" that he had bought such fake copper rounds and mistaken them for treasures, he said: "These money dealers are too devoid of virtue." In fact, the practices of these numismatists not only hurt coin collectors, but also lead to the loss of customers, and at the same time cause great harm to the healthy development of the coin market. It seems to me that they do not understand this truth, and they will not understand this truth, because of their short-sightedness, the kind of thirst-quenching practice adopted by drinking and quenching thirst, will lose friends and customers, and will directly damage the cause of numismatic collecting and research!
Bingwu (1906) Hubu Daqing copper coin Wuwen, the center of "Ning".
Donated more than 100 million yuan
Mr. and Mrs. Li Weixian are very patriotic. In the early 60s of the 20th century, they decided to donate their treasured coins to the state, and asked their father to help organize and number them. According to the relevant regulations, donors must write an application, and Mr. Li entrusted his father to write an application for "The Origin of Donation of Tibetan Coins".
Two copper coins of the Great Qing Dynasty, brass open and wear specimens.
In 1963, Mr. Li donated more than 2,500 kinds of Chinese silver coins for the first time, including the Guangxu Yuanbao 1 Yuan Coin made by the Fujian Guanbureau, the Guangxu Yuanbao 1 Yuan Coin made by Shaanxi Province, the Jilin Changping One Liang Copper Pattern Coin in the 8th Year of Guangxu, the Guangxu Jingju Gengzi Silver Coin 5 sets, the Guangdong Province 72 Reverse Edition 5 complete sets, and the Sichuan Provincial Guangxu Ingot Kaishu 1 Yuan, 5 Jiao and 2 Jiao coins. After his application and the donated silver coins were seen by the leaders who inspected the Shanghai Museum, they appreciated Mr. Li's patriotism and said that they would give a banquet to Mr. and Mrs. Li.
* Ten years of Xu Shichang like Renshou Tongden commemorative gold sample.
Later, Vice Premier ** returned to Beijing in a hurry on business, and entrusted Chen Pixian, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Cao Diqiu, Mayor of Shanghai, and Shi Ximin, Propaganda Minister of the Municipal Party Committee, to hold a banquet at the Jinjiang Hotel to thank the Li couple. My father was also invited. Mr. and Mrs. Li were very happy with the hospitality and attention of the city leaders, and immediately said that they would donate in batches year by year. When my father proposed to write a book on coins, he immediately received the support of the city leaders and arranged time for my father to work half a day and write a book half a day, so that my father finally began to write "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Coins" in 1963.
Later, in 1964 and 1965, the Li couple donated 10,000 pieces of Chinese gold and silver coins, copper dollars, ancient coins, paper money, ingots, foreign gold and silver coins and medals to the Shanghai Museum in batches. Among them, the ancient money has the Ming Wanli Tongbao town treasury money, Xianfeng Yuan Baobao Quandang 300 big money, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom town treasury money, only the Qing Dynasty carved mother money has more than 80 kinds; Copper yuan has Sichuan Province made Guangxu ingots.
Three. 10. Qing Dynasty copper coins Huaizi 20 Wen, Jiangxi Xinhai Dahan 10 copper yuan, Harbin ** one cent coin, Yuan Shikai 10 copper yuan silver sample, etc.
Xuantong two years of the Qing Dynasty copper coin, a penny copper coin.
The banknotes have the official ticket of the household department, Xianfeng three years, one tael, three taels, Wu two, and two hand written value votes, the Beijing Hubu Bank Guangxu 34 years to pick up two and three to pick up two votes, Yingkou Daqing Bank Guangxu 34 years 100 jiao straight ticket, Tainan official silver ticket Guangxu 21 years Wu Baiwen, Hubei Guanqian Bureau Guangxu 30 years double-headed portrait to pick up two votes, the paddock official silver number Guangxu year number Wu pick up a ticket, Yongqi official silver number Guangxu 32 years of one yuan ticket and the Han Dynasty horseshoe gold and so on. The number of rare coins is innumerable.
Bank of China Yuan Shikai like a green double lion republic commemorative exchange coupon one yuan single front and back design samples.
According to the book "Shanghai Museum Collection Coins: Qing Dynasty ** Mechanism Coins" published by the Shanghai Museum, the gold, silver, copper, nickel and other machine-made coins donated by Li Weixian were estimated to be worth 100 million yuan in early 2000. However, if you add the undisclosed and unnamed banknotes, ancient coins, ingots, foreign gold and silver coins, medals and medals, as well as more than 1,000 gold and silver coins donated to the Guangdong Provincial Museum and the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in their hometown, their value is even more difficult to estimate!
After the beginning, Li Weixian's family suffered misfortune and was raided four or five times, one of which lasted for seven days and eight nights, and the whole family was driven to a house of less than 10 square meters in a small alley on Qinghai Road. Mrs. Lee died of a heart attack due to fright.
In the summer of 1967, my father took me to visit Mr. Li, and I saw him lying on the bed with a fan in his hand, coughing and panting repeatedly, his body was weak, and his situation was very miserable. Mr. Li borrowed $100 from his father, who immediately said he would try his best. A few days later, my parents scraped together enough 80 yuan to send it (in fact, my father's monthly salary had already been reduced to more than 70 yuan at that time). Later, my father also visited Mr. Li many times. On September 17, 1972, Mr. Li Weixian passed away due to heart failure caused by emphysema.
Li Weixian and Wang Shiping collected banknotes.
In 2004, a publishing house in Shanghai published a book "The Family of Collectors on the Sea", which omitted such a coin collector as Li Weixian. In addition, it is a pity that some rare banknotes donated by Mr. Li Weixian are not included in the books such as "The Great Series of Chinese Currencies: Qing Banknotes".
* Collection, No. 12, 2005