Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
May 2022 Hong Kong Auction 3-9 May 2022
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(t) CHINA. Copper 10 Cents Pattern, Year 30 (1941). Chengdu Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN Genuine--Tooled, EF Details.
KM-Pn192; K-864x; Zhou-RC.13.4. Quite an enigmatic issue, this pattern was produced in a dramatic off metal composition likely to test the viability of compositions other than nickel. In the midst of full-scale Japanese occupation in Eastern China, nickel coinage often disappeared from circulation as quickly as it entered, as it was being bought up in excess of face value by the Japanese. Given this, patterns in both brass and copper are recorded by Kann, though the quantity of patterns produced is unknown. This cataloger was unable to find any other examples of this issue produced in copper reaching the secondary market, making it among the most elusive and RAREST of pattern issues. The details remain sharp, particularly on the reverse, with just some faint wear on the obverse. Some scratches behind the bust likely account for the tooling designation, though these blend into the surface quite well and are hard to spot. A piece that belongs in the most advanced of Chinese collections, and one that is unlikely to surface on the market again anytime soon.
Estimate: $6000 - $9000
KM-Pn192; K-864x; Zhou-RC.13.4. Quite an enigmatic issue, this pattern was produced in a dramatic off metal composition likely to test the viability of compositions other than nickel. In the midst of full-scale Japanese occupation in Eastern China, nickel coinage often disappeared from circulation as quickly as it entered, as it was being bought up in excess of face value by the Japanese. Given this, patterns in both brass and copper are recorded by Kann, though the quantity of patterns produced is unknown. This cataloger was unable to find any other examples of this issue produced in copper reaching the secondary market, making it among the most elusive and RAREST of pattern issues. The details remain sharp, particularly on the reverse, with just some faint wear on the obverse. Some scratches behind the bust likely account for the tooling designation, though these blend into the surface quite well and are hard to spot. A piece that belongs in the most advanced of Chinese collections, and one that is unlikely to surface on the market again anytime soon.
Estimate: $6000 - $9000