Watch List notes:

CHINA. Fukien. Hwa Nan College (Women's College of South China) 40th Anniversary of Service Gold Award Medal, 1945. ABOUT UNCIRCULATED DETAILS.
Weight: 18.6 gms. Diameter: 40 mm. Obverse: Radiant torch in front of mountains at center with two outer circles, the first in English and the second Chinese; Reverse: several formations of Chinese text, 1945 date below. An EXTREMELY RARE and potentially UNIQUE medal type, awarded to Professor Hua HuiDe on his 40th anniversary of coming to China. Comprised of two sheets of gold struck first and then joined. All details remain, although the central fields show significant surface marks made with the intention of increasing the brightness of the medal.

Founded in the 1910s by the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Hwa Nan College, located on Nantai Island, was first a preparatory school for women, but evolved into a four-year college, with its first graduating class being in 1921. Existing in relative tranquility for decades, the start of the second Sino-Japanese War changed all that, with constant disruptions from air raid alerts beginning in the winter of 1937. By May of 1938, it was decided to relocate the college to Nanping, a location that was 120 miles up the Min River. During their move, Foochow (today Fuzhou), the major city nearest the campus, was occupied twice by the Japanese. Upon their return in 1946, the home campus was devastated. In 1951, the new Chinese government merged the Fukien Christian University with Hwa Nan College to form the National Fukien University. Today, after another merger, the institution goes by the name Fujian Normal University (FNU).

Estimate: $1500.00- $3000.00