Watch List notes:

EASTERN HAN: Anonymous, AD 25-221, clay cash mold, H-10.4, 83mm x 83mm, casting eight coin mold for wu zhu with wide rim, red clay stack-up for coins 2.4 cm. diameter with .8 cm. hole, on back the reverse mold of coins has a line extending from the edges of the hole to the rim, couple hairline cracks, but overall a lovely example and one of the best offered from the Coole Collection! VF, RR, ex Lyn Knight Auction June 2011 "Arthur B. Coole Collection" Lot 2596. This is the "sì chu wu zhu" type; literally: "four corner five zhu" has four lines on reverse radiating from the corners of the hole. It is attributed to the Eastern Han Emperor Ling, AD 186. The four lines are said to represent wealth flowing from a ruined city - an omen of the overthrow of the Han Dynasty. Photo size reduced. The well-known American collector of Chinese coins, Arthur B. Coole (1900-1978), sold his collection of Chinese coins and paper money to Kansas City coin dealer Jack Klausen in 1964. In the fall of 1963 he prepared an inventory of the collection, and published about 15 copies for Klausen and various friends. Coole asked Klausen to agree not to break up the collection - that is, if Klausen sold it, he should sell it intact. Klausen agreed and hoped to sell the collection to a museum. He was unable to do so, and during 1977-1978 sold the collection to Taiwan coin dealer, J. S. Lee. Years later it turned out that Lee did not buy all of the collection. There were some parts on which apparently they could not agree on a price. In 1988 Klausen consigned the coin trees, coin molds, and paper money printing blocks and seals to a Taisei sale, but they did not sell (despite published prices realized for those lots). We believe he consigned them to a different sale in the early 1990's (perhaps Pacific Coast Auctions). Whether they sold at that time or not is unclear, but the material was donated to a museum in Texas, either by the 1990's buyer or by Klausen's estate after his death in 2006. The collection was then consigned to Kansas City coin dealer, Lyn Knight, and offered in his Memphis Paper Money Show auction in June 2011. Arthur and Ella Coole were Methodist missionaries serving in North China between the years 1924 and 1947. Bruce W. Smith was the cataloger for part of this collection, which included about two dozen coin molds (some in bronze, some clay and some in stone) dating to about 300 BC to about 200 AD. Photo size reduced.

Estimate: 500-700 USD