The Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio April Hong Kong Showcase Auction is now
less than a month away, and the excitement is building day by day. Be sure to
browse our new website (current lot found here) and also check out the new Stack’s Bowers App! Our preview
documents an outstanding 1904 Provincial “Dollar” or 7 Mace 2 Candareens. Struck
in Kirin Province, which is located in the northeast corner of China and shares
a border with Russia and North Korea. The name Kirin literally translates to
“Auspicious Forest” and is derived from the Manchu phrase meaning “Along the
river”.
The coin features the “standard pattern” for Chinese Provincial Dollars,
as laid out by Kann. The obverse displays a fearsome aerial dragon, winding
amongst clouds and spewing forth a fiery pearl. “Kirin Province” appears above,
Manchu characters at left and right, and “7 Caindarins 2” at the lower
inscription. The reverse contains four large Chinese characters, which depict
“Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao” which means Valuable Coin (from the) Kuang Hsu (regime).
In the exact center is a large Yin Yang symbol. The upper legend states “Kirin
Province” and the lower legend provides the weight, 7 Mace And 2 Candareens,
which also provides its value of 1 Dollar when converted to the Tael system.
These upper and lower legends are separated by two characters denoting the
cyclical date of 1904. Some strike unevenness is seen but the luster is
unbroken. Beautiful champagne toning evenly coats the surfaces, with slightly
darker color in the protected areas of the dragon providing a lively contrast
to the design elements. The degree of preservation is extraordinary, a
coin that clearly was set aside in 1904 and has remained totally undisturbed
since then. This piece stands alone as the finest graded at PCGS, with a pair
at NGC at this level and none finer. Certainly it is a wonderful coin, and one
that is certain to cause a stir at the auction podium.
Though our Stack’s Bowers April Hong Kong Showcase Auction is no longer
open for consignments, we are now accepting consignments of world and ancient
coins for our August 2016 ANA Auction as well as Chinese and other Asian coins
and currency for our August 2016 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. Time is running
short, so if you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency
(whether a whole collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our
consignment directors.
