Amazing Pattern Coin Estimated To Sell for $250,000+
Heritage will be offering a rare pattern coin in the upcoming Hong Kong Auction #3092 that is estimated to sell for a quarter of a million dollars or more! These coins reveal the close relationship between Chinese and British minting technology and artistry at the time.
Heritage will be offering a rare pattern coin in the upcoming Hong Kong
Auction #3092 that is estimated to sell for a quarter of a million dollars
or more! These coins reveal the close relationship between Chinese and
British minting technology and artistry at the time.
Representing the culmination of a series of trials and experiments aimed at
modernizing China's coinage, the so-called "standard pattern" Kwangtung
Dollars produced between 1890 to 1908 would become the model for all other
silver Dollars minted in the Empire. The design had gone through several
iterations before reaching its final state, owing first to the disastrous
hoarding of silver brought about by the original "heavy" standard on which
the first patterns were based (weighing 7 Mace and 3 Candareens), and
secondly to the distasteful juxtaposition of Chinese and English text on
the obverses of the 1889 and early 1890 issues. Though the mint in Canton
had by this period assumed the mintage of such coins, dies continued to be
supplied by the Heatons in Birmingham, England, who had secured the
original contract in 1888.
The fascinating pattern in question is a Kuang-hsü Specimen Dollar ND
(1890-1908) graded Specimen 67 by PCGS from the Kwangtung mint. This coin
was struck from dies engraved in Heaton, Birmingham. Our catalogers
describe it as "Quite simply magnificent, and a coin which could hardly be
meaningfully improved upon. Only very rarely does a coin of this age
survive with such splendid originality, and so readily recognized as the
absolute best of the best, as the present specimen--hardly a blemish can be
found over surfaces that glimmer from an abundance of die polish lines, all
carefully decorated in a halo of sky-blue tone framing a central dragon
silhouetted by electric purple highlights. Even without the aid of
magnification, the standout quality of the piece is immediately evident,
its utter perfection very nearly mimicking what might be expected from a
Pattern Proof of Record. Even given its standout certification of SP67, the
coin could easily been seen with a star or plus for its one-of-a-kind
visual appeal. Missing from such major collections as Jacobs and Wa She
Wong, with perhaps only the Goodman example approaching this piece in terms
of technical preservation, not a single other certified representative
approaches this offering, the next finest at both major grading services
being a small cluster of SP65's. Through-and-through a connoisseur's coin
par excellence, and likely among the finest, if not the finest, that
exists."
In addition to its rarity and history, this coin is also beautifully toned,
which adds to its appeal! It will take a strong bid to own this piece of
Chinese and British history. Check it out here:
https://coins.ha.com/itm/china/kwangtung-province/kwangtung-kuang-hsu-specimen-dollar-nd-1890-1908-sp67-pcgs-/p/3092-72002.s?ic=Home-FeaturedItems-071515

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Source: Heritage Auctions
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