Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
September 2021 Hong Kong Auction 27 Sep - 1 Oct 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
CHINA. Kwangtung. Brass Cash Pattern, ND (ca. 1890-1908). PCGS SPECIMEN-63.
CCC-779; Duan-2235. Tied with just one other specimen for the top spot in the PCGS census, this interesting and perplexing issue is destined to pique the curiosity of the specialist. Overall, it has the "feel" of the multi-millennia of cash coinage to precede it, but its manufacture is instead decidedly modern and polished, though also not with the refinement that an engraver literate in Chinese and Manchu would produce. The surfaces are quite lovely, displaying attractive mottled light golden tone, with some flecks of toning and reflective surfaces.
CCC-779; Duan-2235. Tied with just one other specimen for the top spot in the PCGS census, this interesting and perplexing issue is destined to pique the curiosity of the specialist. Overall, it has the "feel" of the multi-millennia of cash coinage to precede it, but its manufacture is instead decidedly modern and polished, though also not with the refinement that an engraver literate in Chinese and Manchu would produce. The surfaces are quite lovely, displaying attractive mottled light golden tone, with some flecks of toning and reflective surfaces.
An interesting pattern, the exact origin of which remains unknown. It was certainly not manufactured in China, and most likely produced instead in Europe. The fact that this elusive issue is not listed in many of the references is suggestive of its limited production. Though stylistically a much different product than the Paris mint patterns (CCC-777)--where the characters are larger and more bubbly--this issue also differs from the patterns produced by the Heaton mint in Birmingham (first Kwangtung dragon issues). Until more documentation turns up, its origin will remain a mystery.
Estimate: $4000 - $6000