The 10th Hong Kong Champion Auction will be held on February 24 at the renowned Hyatt Regency Hotel located in 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, and features a rich selection of Chinese coins and banknotes certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Paper Money Guaranty (PMG).

Among the auction listings are Chinese Empire minor Silver and Copper coins from a long-standing American collection. Also presented is a group of Copper Pattern coins from another American collection, including an extremely rare Yunnan Dollar pattern with raised edge, whose heritage may include the Schuler Company.

The auction will be held on February 24, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. More information can be found on Champion’s multi-lingual Web site, www.cghka.com, and the auction can be seen at www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/20498.

586 rare coins and banknotes will be offered and Among the highlights of coins are:

CHINA-Yuan Dynasty 5 Taels Gold Sycee, Weight 185.5g, VF?lot 48?
CHINA-SHANTUNG 1926 Dragon and Phoenix 10 Dollars Gold Pattern, KM Pn7, K1536, NGC MS65?lot 68?
CHINA-YUNNAN ND 10 Cash Copper Pattern, AU. Extremely rare possibly unique (lot 235)
CHINA-SINKIANG 1878 One Mace Silver, Lanchoufu Arsenal Mint, L&M808, K1000, NGC AU55(lot 214)
CHINA-Qing Dynasty Empress Dowager Presentation Birthday Charm, 63mm in diameter, 10mm thick, 241.8g, XF(lot 41)

Highlights of banknotes are:
CHINA 1911 Shensi Provincial Bank 3 Taels (Guo-829), VF-XF(lot 449)
CHINA 1854 Board of Revenue 10 Tales PA12b(lot 367)
CHINA 1907 Kiangse Government Bank $1 PMG VF20(lot 447)
CHINA 1914 Bank of China Chihli $5 PMG AU58EPQ(lot 389) (more…)

Every year I write a letter to all NGC submitters to describe what’s happening at NGC. Communication is a very important part of what we do — we see NGC as being directly responsive to the wants and needs of the numismatic community. In no small part, it’s because of this responsiveness that NGC has grown to become the largest rare coin certification company in the world. In fact, we are literally only days away from certifying our 20 millionth coin!

Before I get ahead of myself, I’d like to look back at 2009. We did so many things last year that I’m just going to get to it…

On January 1, 2009, we formally launched NGC Ancients, a grading division focused on coinage of the ancient world. David Vagi, an extraordinary numismatist, joined us to head this effort. Our goal is to provide independent expert evaluations for ancient coins, just as we do for coinage of the modern era. The precise grading system and encapsulation are both game-changing innovations in ancient numismatics, but I’m particularly proud of what it says about NGC. Now, we can provide our industry-leading services for the broadest range of coins, tokens and medals. We do this by having more and better experts than anyone, all under one roof and collaborating to continually improve the quality and value of our services.

At the 2009 FUN Show we introduced the Scratch-Resistant EdgeView® Holder. Coated in the same UV-cured materials as eyeglass lenses, it provides an optically clear surface that is resistant to nicks and scuffs. We absorb the cost on this very expensive material because we believe it’s vitally important that your coins are always presented in the best possible way, whether you are offering them for sale or enjoying them in your home. If anyone is interested in having coins re-holdered in our scratch-resistant holder, just call customer service and they will be happy to take care of you.

We’ve also continued to upgrade and improve our Web site. Dealers will find an enhanced portal upon login, and all submitters have new, easy-to-use PDF submission forms. In April, we added a comprehensive library of grading articles to the Web site, one for every US coin type. Our coin grading guide, penned by NGC Research Director David W. Lange, is called From One to Seventy, and is certainly among the most readable and informative resources of its kind. But most significantly, we’ve upgraded our Online Verification tool. Now you can see images of every coin that was tier-graded after October 2008 by entering its certification number. We even have a mobile version so you can access these images on your cell phone! If you ever had a concern about buying a fake or bad NGC holder, you shouldn’t anymore. (more…)

NGC has received a number of the new 2010 cents for certification.

The numismatic press recently announced that the new 2010 cents having a shield reverse were inexplicably released in Puerto Rico in advance of their scheduled February release date. NGC has received a number of these for certification, and the novelty of these coins makes them worthy of comment. The obverse remains unchanged from recent years, with the exception of some sharpening of the initials “VDB” at the truncation of Lincoln’s bust. The reverse has been replaced entirely, representing a retirement of the 50-year-old Lincoln Memorial design and last year’s four commemorative types. In their place is a Union shield of thirteen vertical stripes topped by a chief bearing the incuse legend E PLURIBUS UNUM. The value ONE CENT is inscribed in relief on a banner superimposed across the vertical stripes. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA appears around the upper periphery in raised letters, while the initials “LB” of the designer (Lyndall Bass) and “JLM” of the sculptor (Joseph Menna) are beneath the banner at either side of the shield.

This design is not entirely original, as it closely resembles pattern cents designed and sculpted by Charles E. Barber in 1896 (numbers J-1767 through 1769 in the Judd pattern book). Unlike the originals, however, the new 2010 cents omit the traditional visual language of heraldry in which white stripes are represented by a plain texture, red stripes are represented by fine, vertical lines within them and the blue chief is represented by horizontal lines. The new cent has the “red” stripes in faintly higher relief that is observable only with close examination, while the chief is not colored heraldically at all. The impression is thus given that the entire shield is of a single color, the lack of distinction being particularly egregious with respect to the stripes. (more…)