SHANGHAI: 1 cent token, ND (1939), Lec-2, WTTP-720-BH, TC-162978, THE CHINA GENERAL / OMNIBUS CO. / LTD. below omnibus left // cursive JDS monogram, struck circa 1939, a pleasant mint state example, PCGS graded MS61, ex Hong Kong Coin Auction 40, Lot 747 (part), from a collection of tokens and medals formed by D.M. Melnikoff in Hankow, China before World War II. The China General Omnibus Co., Ltd. was a British-owned bus company established in 1923 by H. E. Arnhold, a prominent British businessman and one-time chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council. The company was registered in Hong Kong but operated exclusively in Shanghai, where it opened to the public in October of 1924. It initially comprised six vehicles and serviced a single 6km route between the Bund and Jingan Temple within the International Settlement. The company was later acquired by the Sassoon family and expanded to about 20 routes with a total distance of more than 100km. In 1940, these pieces were used primarily for general circulation as small change, which had disappeared after the Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1937. The initials are those of the manager, John D. Shotter. The Company continued to operate until 1941 due to the looming threat of war and eventually underwent liquidation in 1947.
