A unique discovery note will be auctioned by Spink’s in its Asian Banknote Sale to take place in Singapore on July 5th.

Sale 8014 Lot 0A: The $1000 “Government of the Straits Settlements” of 17 March 1911 has serial number A/1 000001. It is grey & black with crowned arms top centre flanked by a lion and a unicorn. The $1000 value in located in a black tablet at center of the note. The signatures of currency commissioners Brockman, Michell and David are visable and the notes value is also translated into  four languages, English, Chinese, Malay and Arabic around the edges of the note.

The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826 as a crown colony,They were distinct from the native princely states, some of which later formed the Federated Malay States.

Initially, the Straits Settlements consisted of Penang, sometimes officially named Prince of Wales Island, Singapore with about a score of islets of insignificant size lying in its immediate vicinity, the islands and territory of the Dinding, Province Wellesley, the town and territory of Malacca and the islands of Labuan.

The colony was dissolved in 1946, when Singapore became a separate crown colony (ultimately independent), while Penang and Malacca joined the Malayan Union, which eventually became Malaysia.

The note was discovered by the consignor with an envelope titled SPECIMEN/ON HIS MAJESTY’S SERVICE and listing the serial number of the note in ink. (more…)

By Scott Purvis for CoinLink

NGC announced in a From the Grading Room article  that it has graded a “previously unreported” Matte Proof 1925-S California Half Dollar.

In 1925, California celebrated its diamond jubilee as a State in the Union. It was California’s gold rush of 1849 that assured its statehood in 1850. On the occasion of this 75th anniversary of its admission Congress authorized a special half dollar to commemorate the event .

The obverse features a “Forty-Niner”, as these gold hunters were known, panning for gold. The coin’s reverse displays the image of a fearsome looking grizzly hear. In 1953, the bear was adopted as the state’s official animal. The coin was designed by California artist Jo Mora.

The California half dollar had an authorized mintage of 300,000. A number approaching 150,000 were produced, and more than 60,000 were later melted, leaving a net mintage of 86,594. The coin has an extremely high relief design and sharp detail, and it sometimes comes with a semi-prooflike surface on the obverse.

However proofs are a different matter.

 As NGC Sates: “Matte proof commemorative half dollars were specially prepared for presentation although in most cases very little documentation exists to illuminate their true purpose. The design, rim, and notably the legends on this coin are very crisply struck, much more so than on a business-strike example of the issue. Inherent of proof coinage of this type, it does not possess reflective luster; rather the entire design has a very uniform appearance. Matte proofs allowed designers to showcase the design elements of the coin, and were “fashionable” during the early Twentieth Century. “

Interestingly, Q David Bowers in his book Commemorative Coins of the United States; A Complete Encyclopedia, makes no mention of the existance of any Matte Proof 1925-S California Half Dollars. He does state that “Matte Proofs were struck of certain early (1892-1954 era) commemoratives…. the best documented being the 50 or so 1928 Hawaiian Half dollars” however he cautions that “numerous questionable ‘Matte Proof’ Half Dollars have been made outside of the Mint by pickling or sandblasting normal business strikes” (more…)

A new variety of the proof 1938 Jefferson nickel has been announced by Michael S. Fey, Ironia, N.J.

The coin has a serif at the lower end of the “S” in TRUST as compared to no serif on the previously known examples.

Fey made the announcement after researching the coin first shown to him by an unidentified collector Dec. 1, 2007, at the Bay State show in Boston.

“I never forgot the collector, or the two 1938 proof Jefferson nickels that he showed me. When I found the differences he pointed out to me on two coins in my inventory, I decided it was too important a discovery not to pursue further.”

There were several other differences in the look and thickness of the serifs and on the numerals in the date to make me believe that this was significant enough to seek other expert opinions, Fey said.

“After comparing these 1938 proof coins to business strikes of 1938 and 1939 nickels, my first thought was that the coin without the extra serif on the ‘S’ was more closely related to an obverse of 1938, and that the one with the extra serif was more closely related to an obverse of 1939″

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