Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Straits Settlements
Victoria 20 Cents 1871, KM12, MS63 PCGS, super-sharp strike showing all the tiny details of the design, the queen's portrait still retaining much of its die-frost, the luster satiny and snow white, and without any toning some tiny contact marks appear in the open fields on each side with only a few ticks on the portrait itself. Also, sharply struck on the large "20" denomination at the center of reverse, which is often found lacking some details. This is a gleaming example of the first, and by far the rarest, date of this denomination of the 19th century. Only 16,000 pieces of 20-Cent coins were struck in 1871 for the Straits, most of which were worn down smooth by many years of use in commerce, and today are found scratched, gouged, cleaned, or damaged in some way -- but most did not even survive. This date is the key to the series, rare in all conditions, and is extremely rare in this exalted condition. Listed at $7,000 in UNC in the newest KM reference. We cannot locate another certified UNC example aside from the beautiful, toned MS63 (NGC) coin we sold in Chicago on April 28, 2012, Sale #3019, Lot 25615, which garnered a winning bid of $29,900. This coin is every bit its equal. We present below, for your convenience, the same history of the period which accompanied that lot.The Straits Settlements was the name given to a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia which were collectively administered by Great Britain as a crown colony beginning in 1826 during Britain's imperial wanderings around the globe. Various territories between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea were divided up by the European powers, and certain lands became known as the Straits Settlements by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, which split the Malay archipelago into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. In April of 1867, the Settlements became a British crown colony, answerable to the Colonial Office in London instead of to the government of India based in Calcutta. A governor was appointed to direct the affairs of its citizens, consisting mostly of Chinese, Malays and Indians. Commerce thrived as various native products were taken to a broader market. A British colonial coinage commenced in 1871, mintages for the first few years being particularly small, and most of those coins seem to have been spent to oblivion by century's end. The 1871 20 Cents coin is an important rarity in this series in which numerous coins are elusive in grades above VF. The higher the grade, in many cases, the rarer the coin -- not just a little rarer, but considerably rarer. Any number of 1870s-era silver coins are difficult to find in EF or better, for instance -- or, once found, to duplicate. In a coin having any luster at all, say with slight wear, the rarity can jump once again. For the 1871 20 Cents issue, the KM standard reference lists a value in "UNC" of $7,000 but what is it based on? We cannot trace any sale of a coin of this quality in recent auction history. It seems to be nearly impossible to find in UNC condition, but why? Why is it so rare? These coins were manufactured in Britain, then shipped by sea to the far-off colony. Once there, they were used. They were not saved; they were used. Banks and merchants distributed them, and they tended to circulate widely through the Straits and also in nearby colonies -- for years and years. It seems that a relative handful of certain types and dates of Straits coins remained in Britain and were saved by contemporary collectors. This describes the situation in general for the silver coins, but virtually none of the first years of most silver denominations were saved by collectors whether in Britain or elsewhere. In January 2007, we were fortunate to auction an 1873 5 Cents, graded MS62 by NGC. Such a coin, in the quality we offered, had not appeared for sale in some time, and it sold for $13,000 -- a multiple of the KM catalogue value then and now. It was the second year of issue for that denomination. Its mintage was 60,000 pieces. Another has not appeared for sale in such a condition in the intervening five years. But the tiny 1873 5 Cents in MS62 pales in comparison to the rarity of any UNC 1871 20 Cents, which was the first year of issue for its denomination -- and it had the smallest mintage (16,000 coins) of all Straits Settlements issues. If another early silver coin, with a mintage say in the tens or the hundreds of thousands, in the 19th century, may be said to be rare in Mint State, what might be the assessed rarity rating of the 1871 20 Cents, in MS63 as seen in the present lot? And what might be its value, compared to its KM listed price of $7,000 in uncertified "UNC"? This coin was missing, in any grade, from the Diana Collection, sold by Baldwin's in 2009. In fact, we can locate only a few sales, in any grade, of this coin within the past ten years, but this is the first certified MS63 ever to be offered (to our knowledge) for sale at auction. Its value will be determined by worldwide bidding in this auction. No one can say definitively at this point how rare it is in this condition, but it appears that virtually all of the 20 Cents coins struck back in 1871 have perished in the intervening 141 years. Krause catalog price(s) for this item: $1170 in VF, $2800 in EF, $7000 in UNC.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD
Victoria 20 Cents 1871, KM12, MS63 PCGS, super-sharp strike showing all the tiny details of the design, the queen's portrait still retaining much of its die-frost, the luster satiny and snow white, and without any toning some tiny contact marks appear in the open fields on each side with only a few ticks on the portrait itself. Also, sharply struck on the large "20" denomination at the center of reverse, which is often found lacking some details. This is a gleaming example of the first, and by far the rarest, date of this denomination of the 19th century. Only 16,000 pieces of 20-Cent coins were struck in 1871 for the Straits, most of which were worn down smooth by many years of use in commerce, and today are found scratched, gouged, cleaned, or damaged in some way -- but most did not even survive. This date is the key to the series, rare in all conditions, and is extremely rare in this exalted condition. Listed at $7,000 in UNC in the newest KM reference. We cannot locate another certified UNC example aside from the beautiful, toned MS63 (NGC) coin we sold in Chicago on April 28, 2012, Sale #3019, Lot 25615, which garnered a winning bid of $29,900. This coin is every bit its equal. We present below, for your convenience, the same history of the period which accompanied that lot.The Straits Settlements was the name given to a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia which were collectively administered by Great Britain as a crown colony beginning in 1826 during Britain's imperial wanderings around the globe. Various territories between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea were divided up by the European powers, and certain lands became known as the Straits Settlements by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, which split the Malay archipelago into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. In April of 1867, the Settlements became a British crown colony, answerable to the Colonial Office in London instead of to the government of India based in Calcutta. A governor was appointed to direct the affairs of its citizens, consisting mostly of Chinese, Malays and Indians. Commerce thrived as various native products were taken to a broader market. A British colonial coinage commenced in 1871, mintages for the first few years being particularly small, and most of those coins seem to have been spent to oblivion by century's end. The 1871 20 Cents coin is an important rarity in this series in which numerous coins are elusive in grades above VF. The higher the grade, in many cases, the rarer the coin -- not just a little rarer, but considerably rarer. Any number of 1870s-era silver coins are difficult to find in EF or better, for instance -- or, once found, to duplicate. In a coin having any luster at all, say with slight wear, the rarity can jump once again. For the 1871 20 Cents issue, the KM standard reference lists a value in "UNC" of $7,000 but what is it based on? We cannot trace any sale of a coin of this quality in recent auction history. It seems to be nearly impossible to find in UNC condition, but why? Why is it so rare? These coins were manufactured in Britain, then shipped by sea to the far-off colony. Once there, they were used. They were not saved; they were used. Banks and merchants distributed them, and they tended to circulate widely through the Straits and also in nearby colonies -- for years and years. It seems that a relative handful of certain types and dates of Straits coins remained in Britain and were saved by contemporary collectors. This describes the situation in general for the silver coins, but virtually none of the first years of most silver denominations were saved by collectors whether in Britain or elsewhere. In January 2007, we were fortunate to auction an 1873 5 Cents, graded MS62 by NGC. Such a coin, in the quality we offered, had not appeared for sale in some time, and it sold for $13,000 -- a multiple of the KM catalogue value then and now. It was the second year of issue for that denomination. Its mintage was 60,000 pieces. Another has not appeared for sale in such a condition in the intervening five years. But the tiny 1873 5 Cents in MS62 pales in comparison to the rarity of any UNC 1871 20 Cents, which was the first year of issue for its denomination -- and it had the smallest mintage (16,000 coins) of all Straits Settlements issues. If another early silver coin, with a mintage say in the tens or the hundreds of thousands, in the 19th century, may be said to be rare in Mint State, what might be the assessed rarity rating of the 1871 20 Cents, in MS63 as seen in the present lot? And what might be its value, compared to its KM listed price of $7,000 in uncertified "UNC"? This coin was missing, in any grade, from the Diana Collection, sold by Baldwin's in 2009. In fact, we can locate only a few sales, in any grade, of this coin within the past ten years, but this is the first certified MS63 ever to be offered (to our knowledge) for sale at auction. Its value will be determined by worldwide bidding in this auction. No one can say definitively at this point how rare it is in this condition, but it appears that virtually all of the 20 Cents coins struck back in 1871 have perished in the intervening 141 years. Krause catalog price(s) for this item: $1170 in VF, $2800 in EF, $7000 in UNC.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD