Production was curtailed by the abandonment of the silver standard in 1935, but returned in response to hyperinflation during the Chinese Civil War, with a large run of coins at Canton in 1949.

[3] The central mint in Tianjin had been rendered inoperable during the revolution, limiting the republic's early currency to already existing stockpiles of dragon dollars and various provincial issues.

By early 1914, the Ministry of Finance had reopened the central mint, and restarted production of coinage with the old dragon dollar design.

It featured a portrait of the current president, Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who served as the head of the Beiyang government of the early Republic of China.

[8][9] The final design of the standard issue featured a profile view of Yuan Shikai facing left on the obverse.

On the reverse, taken from the original pattern issue, the coin's value of one yuan (壹圓; Yī yuán) is written, surrounded by a wreath of grain—likely barley.

The definition of the Kuping tael was inconsistent during the Qing Dynasty, but was standardized as 37.301 g (1.316 oz) in late 1914, leading to a weight for the coin equal to 414.45 grains (26.857 g).

[9][12] Smaller denominations using the same design were approved alongside the dollar, and entered production the same year; these comprise fifty-cent (half-dollar), twenty-cent, and ten-cent pieces.

Other five-cent patterns of the Yuan Shikai design are attested in silver, copper, and pewter, likely as proof or assay pieces.

The Tianjin mint produced ten-dollar and twenty-dollar denominations of gold coins with a modified version of the Yuan Shikai design.

[17] The dates on the coinage, given in the Republic of China calendar, are inconsistent and rarely reflect the actual year the coin was minted.

[21] Chinese banks grew uncomfortable with the coinage by 1917, as dollars lying slightly outside the legally prescribed weight and fineness were entering circulation.

Complaints were filed with the Ministry of Finance in October 1917, but little was done to resolve the issue, as the Warlord Era and the steady loss of authority of the Beiyang Government led to less oversight over coinage.

Anqing's production began to dramatically increase in 1924, producing millions of significantly debased Year 8 coins struck at between .74 and .83 fineness.

The Communist-produced Yuan Shikai dollars have such crudely produced dies that they appear visually similar to forgeries; however, unlike contemporary counterfeits, they have a relatively high silver content of .70 to .80 fineness.

Large amounts of paper currency circulated in its place, halting the regional production of the Yuan Shikai dollar.

The Canton Mint produced an eclectic mix of Memento, Junk, and 9th year Yuan Shikai dollars for several months in 1949; this concurrent production led to mules of all three coins during this period.

The Birmingham Mint engraved dies for 8th Year Yuan Shikai dollars and produced several test strikes; both known examples featured the date 1949 written on the coins in pencil.

No foreign production of Yuan Shikai coins was able to begin before the Communist victory in the war and the exile of the Nationalist government to Taiwan.

[31] From 1950 to 1951, the newly-founded People's Republic of China occupied and annexed Tibet, placing the area under an autonomous administration headed by the 14th Dalai Lama.

When the Communist government contracted laborers to construct infrastructure such as roadways, payment in paper currency was viewed with suspicion and rejected by locals.