Obverse:
- Upper inscription - in the seal style (similar to the style which can be met on different Japanese medals)
 = [Japanese] Showa [period], 12th and 13th year = 1937-38 AD
- Helmet with the five-pointed star. See old journal cover below.
- Four central characters - "Memento of the war with China"
- Bottom inscription- "Expatriates to Shanghai"
Reverse:
- Is the same as on the silver Chinese Republic dollar issued in 1933-34 AD. (Krause-Mishler Y#345: "Junk dollar")
Unusual World Coins (Third edition). A Standard Catalog of World coins. Companion listing and price guide of novel non-circulating coins. By Colin R. Bruce II. Krause publications:
Japanese Conquest of Shanghai Series Dollar:
- XM1000 - Copper
- XM1001 - Copper, silver plated
- XM1005 - Billon or copper, silver plated
XM1000 and XM1001 have obverse and reverse shown on the above image. XM1005 have the one side with helmet, handgun and sabre and the second side copied from the Yuan Shih-kai silver dollar Y#329 (with inscription Yi Yuan - 'one dollar').
Japanese used design of the Chinese Republic coin when they occupied Shanghai. They used the coin mold as a souvenir to mint their medals.
This silver item is a commemorative medal issued in memorium of undeclared Sino-Japanese war 1937-1945 AD, which was escalated from an incident at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing on July 7, 1937.
"Sino-Japanese War" Encyclopaedia Britannica
[Accessed September 25, 2002]
Sino-Japanese war is a conflict that broke out when China began full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory (begun in 1931). In an effort to unseat the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese occupied large areas of eastern China in 1937–38. A stalemate then ensued, and Japanese forces were diverted to Southeast Asia and to the Pacific War against the Western Powers and their allies beginning in 1941. Japan's World War II defeat by the Allies ended its occupation of China (1945).
Thanks to Stephen Tai for reading and comments.
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