| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40207 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: CHINA. Silver "Mausoleum" Dollar Pattern, Year 16 (1927). Nanking Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-62. L&M-85; K-609; KM-Unlisted; WS-0130; Wenchao-898 (rarity: ★★★). Mintage: 480. Engraved by Richard Placht of the Vienna Mint. An incredibly classic design as well as important type, this "Mausoleum" Dollar was never to be, leaving it as an infrequently offered commemorative issue. Often encountered with an issue of some kind, usually cleaning, this example stands quite happily without such annoyances and distractions. Extremely brilliant and lustrous, with a mostly gunmetal gray nature spread throughout. This heavily demanded and EXCESSIVELY RARE type is ceaselessly desirable on account of the miniscule mintage and elegant design. Despite the wonderful engraving work undertaken by the Austrian engraver, this piece was destined to fail on account of its design elements. Placht had never seen the mausoleum in question, and may also have never even seen a person of Chinese descent, making his rendering of Sun Yat-sen rather distinct from Sun's actual appearance. Kann reports a Chinese Mint official's comment that the portrait bore a much stronger resemblance to German military leader-turned-president, Paul von Hindenburg, instead of the intended Chinese hero. To view all items from the Nine Dragons Collection, click here. From the Nine Dragons Collection. Estimate: $150000 - $250000 |  |
Match 1:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40160 Price realized: 80,000 USD (Approx. 75,280 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: CHINA. Silver 50 Cents Pattern, Year 3 (1914). Tientsin Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-61. L&M-68; K-655A; KM-Pn27; WS-0170; Wenchao-861 (rarity: ★★★). An EXTREMELY RARE pattern issue displaying the signature of the esteemed Luigi Giorgi, this provocative specimen represents one of the few straight-graded examples of the type that we have offered over the past decade-and-half, as many tend to feature some level of unfortunate cleaning. Here, a deep gray hue dominates, with some glints of other color sprinkled throughout, and some alluring brilliance providing even more flair. Sharply and expertly struck, with tremendous detail conveyed through the hair of Yuan Shih-kai, along with the characters and even the denticles at the peripheries. Undoubtedly, a resounding opportunity for the advanced collector of the Yuan Shih-kai series, or early Chinese pattern issues more broadly. Estimate: $75000 - $150000 |  |
Match 2:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40208 Price realized: 65,000 USD (Approx. 61,165 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: (t) CHINA. Silver "Mausoleum" Dollar Pattern, Year 16 (1927). Nanking Mint. PCGS Genuine--Cleaned, Unc Details. L&M-85; K-609; KM-Unlisted; WS-0130; Wenchao-898 (rarity: ★★★). Mintage: 480. Engraved by Richard Placht of the Vienna Mint. Though some minor cleaning is noted, this eminently desired issue remains exceptionally enchanting and attractive. A mostly argent nature is observed in the central portions of the obverse, while some champagne hues intensify as ones moves outward toward the edges. Meanwhile, the reverse is more evenly patinated, with the rising sun seemingly casting its warming rays all throughout the fields. A great opportunity for this ever-popular pattern. This heavily demanded and EXCESSIVELY RARE type is ceaselessly desirable on account of the miniscule mintage and elegant design. Despite the wonderful engraving work undertaken by the Austrian engraver, this piece was destined to fail on account of its design elements. Placht had never seen the mausoleum in question, and may also have never even seen a person of Chinese descent, making his rendering of Sun Yat-sen rather distinct from Sun's actual appearance. Kann reports a Chinese Mint official's comment that the portrait bore a much stronger resemblance to German military leader-turned-president, Paul von Hindenburg, instead of the intended Chinese hero. Estimate: $75000 - $125000 |  |
Match 3:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40224 Price realized: 46,000 USD (Approx. 43,286 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: CHINA. Silver "Mint Sport" Dollar, ND (ca. 1930s). Tientsin Mint. PCGS MS-62. L&M-910; K-Unlisted; KM-Unlisted; WS-Unlisted. Unmistakably the product of boundless frivolity at the central mint, this alluring and EXTREMELY RARE specimen features the muling of two reverse dies for the Yuan Shih-kai series (or, quite possibly, the reverse of the "Dragon & Phoenix" large characters Dollar, given their essentially shared design). Highly brilliant and prooflike, with immense radiance in the fields and essentially no toning of which to speak. For the afficionados of the Yuan Shih-kai series, this presents an important opportunity that simply cannot be missed, as this represents the first such instance in which we have offered the type. Rather unsurprisingly, a scanning of the archives reveals that it may be quite some time indeed before another such example of the type crosses the auction block To view all items from the Nine Dragons Collection, click here. From the Nine Dragons Collection. Estimate: $20000 - $40000 |  |
Match 4:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40214 Price realized: 20,000 USD (Approx. 18,820 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: (t) CHINA. Dollar, Year 21 (1932). Shanghai Mint. PCGS MS-64. L&M-108; K-622; KM-Y-344; WS-0144. "Birds over Junk" type. Essentially devoid any color or toning, this frosty, fully argent near-Gem offers intense luster glistening throughout along with a rather well executed strike. The surfaces themselves seemingly provide just as much opulent brilliance as the day upon which this piece departed the mint. A great offering of an endlessly popular and hotly contested type. Estimate: $20000 - $25000 |  |
Match 5:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > April 2024 Hong Kong Auction | Auction date: 15 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 40180 Price realized: 62,500 USD (Approx. 58,813 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: CHINA. Dollar, Year 10 (1921). Tientsin Mint. PCGS MS-63. L&M-864; K-676; WS-0101; Chang-CH234. Variety with reeded edge and with legend at bottom of reverse. A highly desirable type that features the bust of Hsu Shih-chang (Xu Shichang), then-president of the Republic of China, this specimen radiates with a crisp and exacting strike, fields that are supremely lustrous and glossy, and some subtle tinges of toning present only at the peripheries and within the pavilion on the reverse. A stunning exemplar that will no doubt generate massive interest and appeal, and a true RARITY at such an elite level of preservation. An incredibly popular and desirable type believed to have been a pattern issue, it now appears that these were, in fact, more medallic in nature, and meant to be given out upon the opening of the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), the facade of which is displayed upon the reverse. Initially designed with a blank field below the pavilion for the intended recipient's name to be engraved, the reverse was altered slightly to contain the characters "紀念幣" between two rosettes, as the engraving proved difficult on the initial batch. To view all items from the Nine Dragons Collection, click here. From the Nine Dragons Collection. Estimate: $75000 - $125000 |  |
