Republic Sun Yat-sen "Upper Five-Pointed Stars/Dot Below Ear" Memento Dollar ND (1927) MS64 PCGS, KM-Y318.1 (1912), L&M-48 (1928), Kann-600b, Chang-CH183, WS-0158 (1927), Wencho-891 (1927; rarity 2 stars) Five-pointed upper stars variety with dot below ear. Founding of the Republic commemorative. While a beloved series across all issues, these are few Republican Dollars that benefit so highly from careful presentation and turn so many heads in peak grades as do the "Five-Pointed Stars" Mementos produced with the likeness of Sun Yat-sen. Already a special find on the very cusp of gem, this piece adds what is essentially star-level eye appeal to the offering, an even pondlike luster rolling unhindered over the surfaces, backlighting ranks of thin die polish lines throughout. While the occasional sign of contact here and there admittedly bound its certification, these generally do nothing to hinder the natural movement of the eye as it moves across the planchet. Despite debate and disagreement over the dating the issue--with both Lin and Ma and NGC dating the issue to 1928, while the Standard Catalog of World Coins and PCGS place it at 1912--more modern scholarship points to 1927 as the date of production, coinciding with the 16th anniversary of the People's Republic, and also marking the first usage of the "Memento" legend on the coins prior to the adoption of the 6-pointed stars design later the same year. From the Tony Ma Collection

HID09801242017

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