893.515/5–1849
The Chinese Ambassador (Koo) to the Secretary of State
The Chinese Ambassador presents his compliments to the Secretary of State and, pursuant to the instructions of the Chinese Government, has the honor to request the assistance of the United States Government in coining a number of Chinese silver dollars.
In order to meet urgent needs, the Chinese Government has decided to coin a number of One Yuan Silver Dollars to the extent of ten million ounces of bar silver. The United States Mint in Philadelphia has in its custody one of the master dies, the obverse side of which bears the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen90 and the date, and the reverse side, a junk and Chinese characters without the bird and Sun. It measures 39mm in diameter. It is requested that a sufficient number of working dies be made from this master die and that they be made available as soon as possible.
The Bank of America at San Francisco has been asked to act as handling agents for the Central Bank of China to receive the ten million ounces of bar silver, which will be delivered to whatever place or places to be designated by the United States authorities concerned. It is hoped the dollars coins to be produced from this lot of silver will be ready as soon as possible so as to meet urgent requirements in China before the end of June, and that the coining may be undertaken at different mints, preferably in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
The Ambassador will be greatly obliged if the Secretary would be kind enough to transmit the above information to the appropriate authorities [Page 781] of the United States Government with the request that assistance be accorded to the Chinese Government in this matter.91