01 October 2018
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A host of rare Chinese coins was on offer in two Hong Kong auctions held by US-based company Heritage Auctions recently, with a ‘Dragon Dollar’ fetching an impressive $439,000 (approximately £330,654).
Heritage Auctions’ World Coins & Ancient Coins Auction and World Currency Auction were the company’s third-largest event ever held in Hong Kong and featured a huge range of rare coins.
Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Cris Bierrenbach said:
'We continue to see solid growth in Asia going into our fourth year of holding auctions in Hong Kong. We expect to surpass the $10 million mark for the year in 2018.’
Highlights included a Chekiang Kuang-hsü Dragon Dollar (1898-99) described as ‘among the rarest of all “Dragon Dollar” issues, this coin rarely has been available to collectors of the series, with auction records showing only three coins offered since 2008.’
Another Chinese coin that attracted great interest was a Kiangnan Kuang-hsü 50 cents 1899 which sold for $312,000 (£234,998), whilst a Republic gold pattern ‘Dragon & Phoenix’ Dollar of 1923 from the Tientsin mint, brought $108,000 (£81,345).
Bierrenbach added:
‘We continue to see particular strength in the market for high-grade vintage Chinese coins. Although there was a period several years ago when prices had softened, they seem to have recovered fully, and in some cases surpassed their previous peaks. Modern Chinese coins also continue to be consistently robust. Our auction also included coins from other countries, including some in East Asia, and several dozen ancient coins. Those performed well, and not coincidentally, we have many clients who used to buy Chinese coins exclusively, but now are broadening their interest to include a wider range of the numismatic market.’
Find out more at coins.ha.com
