Owing to the Far East’s exposure to the West and the subsequent opening up of the former, the West’s more technically advanced coinage stood in contrast to the local, more utilitarian systems of exchange. Ang Duong, the King of Cambodia from 1841-1860, recognized this disparity and sought to modernize the look and overall feel of his kingdom’s coinage, which still featured some uniface strikings and more basic iconography, even during his reign. In 1852, he commissioned W.P. Hammond and Co. in Birmingham, England to produce patterns utilizing some of the more advanced techniques available, with the patterns based upon ivory mock-ups produced in Cambodia by a local artisan. Trial strikings were issued in white metal, clearly capturing the look desired, with elegant design motifs and crisp, clear legends.
These majestic patterns, along with the necessary minting equipment and dies, were sent to Cambodia for implementation, though no one there possessed enough technical knowledge to utilize the equipment, meaning that it sat unused until it could be converted into a hand press. The king’s attempts were not in vain, however, as the coinage overall saw a great improvement, though not nearly as much as if the equipment were utilized to its full extent. As such, the white metal trial strikings, such as a scintillating 3 Tical Pattern in our upcoming Hong Kong auction, stand as an interesting and very rare glimpse into “what if?” with respect to Cambodia’s coinage in Ang Duong’s reign. Our specimen, graded NGC MS-63, is quite stunning, and if its beauty and rarity weren’t enough, its tremendous pedigree from the famous Irving Goodman Collection makes it a must for advanced collectors.
To view our upcoming auction schedule and future offerings, please visit StacksBowers.com where you may register and participate in this and other forthcoming sales.
We are always seeking coins, medals, and paper money for future auctions, and are currently accepting submissions for our January 2023 Official Auction of the NYINC and our Spring Hong Kong auction. Additionally, we are accepting submissions for our Collectors Choice Online (CCO) auctions, the next of which will be held in November, and the next for which we are accepting consignments to be held in February 2023. If you would like to learn more about consigning, whether a singular item or an entire collection, please contact one of our consignment directors today and we will assist you in achieving the best possible return on your material.
