Hupeh. Hsüan-t'ung Dollar ND (1909-1911) MS65 PCGS, Wuchang mint, KM-Y131, L&M-187, Kann-45, Chang-CH137, WS-0882. Variety with incuse swirl on fire ball and no dot in center of Manchu. An absolute show-stopper of a coin on the grounds of its superior conditional survivorship alone, so completely blowing the competition out of the water as to cause even the most scrupulous collector to stop and pause. Of the nearly 1,300 examples of this variety currently certified across both NGC and PCGS, a mere 9 others tie with this piece for the moniker of finest graded, a fact which extends across all other varieties, where not a single MS66 designation has yet been awarded. Clearly struck with great care from heavily polished dies, the coin admits hardly the least trace of tone, the surfaces instead retaining an icy-white color amidst waves of mint fresh cartwheel luster. Within our own auction archives, we have not offered an example in similar preservation since 2018, and the subsequent rise in demand for high-quality vintage Chinese coinage since that date suggests that collectors will have to place their best bids to secure this piece for their numismatic cabinets.

HID09801242017

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