Kwangtung. Kuang-hsü Dollar ND (1890-1908) MS61 Prooflike NGC, Kwangtung mint, KM-Y203, L&M-133, Kann-26a, Chang-CH178. Variety with Ku not connected. Struck from dies engraved in Heaton, Birmingham. Beloved as a sort of "transitional" issue between the inaugural Kwangtung silver Dollars of 1889 and the experimental, "empire-wide" Dollars of Kuang-hsü's successor, Hsüan-t'ung, and a type cherished in fully Uncirculated preservation. Typically found either as a sound business strike or a Specimen, this piece seems to pivot between these two categories, its fields strongly reflective and the obverse (reverse as holdered) sharp in nearly every facet, while the reverse is noticeably flatter over the dragon's scales and the highest points of the design. More interestingly, this is the sole survivor yet awarded a Prooflike designation at NGC, sharing an obverse die--with a tiny die crack around the Manchu character boo--with the SP67 piece we sold in our June Auction #3092 (lot 38123) and the Irving Goodman piece (Superior June 1991, Lot 96). As such, a piece which deserves closer study by its future owner.

HID09801242017

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