Heritage Auctions

Auction 3095  –  11 - 13 December 2021

Heritage Auctions, Auction 3095

Ancient and World Coins

Part 1: Sa, 11.12.2021, from 12:00 PM CET
Part 2: Su, 12.12.2021, from 3:00 AM CET
Part 3: Mo, 13.12.2021, from 7:00 AM CET
The auction is closed.

Description

Kiangnan. Kuang-hsü 50 Cents CD 1900 XF Details (Cleaned) PCGS, Nanking mint, KM-Y144A (Rare), L&M-232, Kann-82, Shanghai Museum-464-465, Shi Jiagan Collection-432, WS-0820, Wenchao-668 (rarity 3 stars), Chang Foundation-Unl. An extraordinary rarity to say the least, and one of the indisputable keys to the Kiangnan series just behind the prohibitively elusive 50 Cents of 1899, the 1900 50 Cents remains one of the most challenging Chinese provincial minors, demanding high prices whenever it becomes available. Across NGC and PCGS combined, reportedly only 10 examples have been certified in total (though PCGS's census does not display information on Details-graded coins). According to our research, we have only been able to trace the following auction appearances for the type over the last several decades, to which may be added the two pieces illustrated in the catalog the Shanghai Museum Collection and the coins plated by Lin and Ma and Wang Chun Li: 1) The Chinese Family Collection specimen. Champion Macau Auction (December 2015, Lot 119). Certified VF35 by NGC. 2) The Åke Lindén specimen. Baldwin's-Ma Tak Wo Auction 56 (April 2014, Lot 379). Certified XF45 by PCGS. 3) The R.N.J. White specimen. Baldwin's-Ma Tak Wo Auction 46 (April 2009, Lot 51). Uncertified but called "Extremely Fine." 4) The Norman Jacobs specimen. Baldwin's-Ma Tak Wo (August 2008, Lot 248). Certified AU53 by NGC. 5) The Eduard Kann specimen. Hans Schulman-Quality Sales Corp (June 1971, Lot 105). Not certified, though seemingly quite worn from the plates in Kann's book. Just as worthy of note are those collections which did not contain a representative of this date, which include the holdings of Daniel Ching, Irving Goodman, Wa She Wong, and Frank Robinson, certainly establishing its supreme scarcity. We would note further than while Wenchao has assigned the issue a rarity of 3 stars, well-known Taiwanese numismatist Lee Jinling considered it to be of 4-star rarity. The exact reasons for the rarity of this issue remain somewhat unclear. While documentation of the period suggests mintage numbers must have been quite low and that their issuance was unpopular, there is certainly something to be said for the problems involved in the new machine-made coinage of the early 20th century. Although they were conceived to provide a unified standard across the country, locally produced provincial silver Dollars varied wildly in fineness, size, and weight between different locales. Whereas the initial purpose of supplanting the circulation of foreign silver Crowns likely would lent a special prestige to the Dollar, and the smallest 10 and 20-Cent pieces still served the needs of smaller transactions, the Half Dollar fell into a sort of awkward gray zone between the two. Less care also seems to have been taken in their production. Not only did they reportedly contain less pure silver than the Dollar, but the design of the coin remained static from its first issuance in 1898 until 1900, still carrying the "Old Style" Dragon. All pieces we have consulted also demonstrate the noted doubling to the reverse (obverse as holdered) designs.

HID09801242017

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Price realized 126'000 USD
Starting price 17'000 USD
Estimate 30'000 USD
The auction is closed.
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