(t) CHINA. Chekiang. Brass 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens (20 Cents) Pattern, Year 23 (1897). Esslingen (Otto Beh) Mint. Kuang-hsu (Guangxu). PCGS SPECIMEN-63+.
cf. L&M-273 (silver pattern); cf. K-117 (same); cf. KM-53.5 (same); cf. WS-1012C (same). Sporting a brassy-olive hue and an alluring, crisply struck look, this charming specimen undoubtedly holds a place among the pantheon of issues from the early years of the vintage Chinese series. Issued as an off-metal pattern striking in brass, it shares similarities with other pattern issues in brass and aluminum from provinces such as Anhwei and Fengtien. However, such trials for Chekiang are that much RARER and seemingly never encountered in the marketplace. Indeed, while one can locate a few disparate records of the latter provincial off-metal trial strikings, those for Chekiang remain the most elusive. The only such example that this cataloger could locate is a Brass "3.2 Candareens" error denomination (graded NGC MS-63), realizing a hammer of $24,000 when it sold as part of the Norman Jacobs Collection in August 2008 ( there listed as "extremely rare, possibly unique" ). As such, the importance of this piece cannot be overstated, and it should no doubt present much in the way of spirited bidding and fanfare when it ultimately joins its new, highly deserving cabinet. The recent discovery of production material has shone new light on the creation of this coinage. Such findings included patterns, dies, hubs and a series of punches from the archives of the Otto Beh company in Esslingen, Germany. Before this, the origin of the dies used to produce coinage for the provinces of Anhwei, Chekiang, Fengtien, Heilungkiang and Sungarei was only speculated upon. Otto Beh was a specialist in the production of seals and dies. From neighboring Goppingen, Louis Schuler received an order for coining presses in 1895 and commissioned Otto Beh to manufacture the dies. In 1897 and 1898, Beh supplied Schuler with over 200 dies for Chinese coins. At the time, this was the largest order that the company had ever received. Schuler, which started as a Locksmith's shop in 1839, had grown to become one of the world's leaders in metal forming and, in fact, supplied the aforementioned mints with coining presses.

光緒二十三年浙江省造一錢四分四釐銅樣幣。安慶造幣廠。
使用德國埃斯林根 (Esslingen) Otto Beh公司提供的模具打鑄。黃銅橄欖色調。鑄打銳利，魅力十足的一枚早期中國機製幣，在頂尖集藏中亦能不費吹灰之力取得一席之位。黃銅鑄異質幣，與其他省份如安徽、奉天的黃銅及鋁製樣幣可見共通之處。然而浙江樣幣的罕見程度遠超其他省份，市面上可説是從未出現。其他省份異質樣幣尚可尋獲零星拍賣記錄，但浙江異質樣幣百不一遇。編者唯一找到的記錄是一枚面值錯誤的黃銅"三分二釐" (獲評NGC MS-63)，在2008年8月Norman Jacobs集藏拍賣中以24,000美元落槌。由此可見，本拍品非同小可，重要無比。必先過五關斬六將才能收穫此枚無上珍品。近年發現的鑄造物料如樣幣、模具、二元模以及一系列來自德國 Otto Beh 公司的存檔製模冲頭闡明了此錢幣的生產。此前，對安徽、浙江、奉天、黑龍江、新疆幾省鑄幣模具母版的來源猜想紛紜，但始終是個迷團。Otto Beh是一間專精壓印鑄模的公司。1895年，在距埃斯林根不遠的格平根 (Goppingen) 居住的路易斯-舒勒 (Louis Schuler) 收到一筆鑄幣機的訂單，於是他委託Otto Beh製作模具。在1897年和1898年間，Beh為Schuler提供了200多個用於中國錢幣的模具。這是當時該公司所接到最大的訂單。 舒勒於1839年開鎖匠鋪起家，後逐步發展為世界最大的金屬加工供應商，為上述省份的鑄幣廠提供模具。

Estimate: $100000.00- $200000.00