The 48th Hong Kong Coin Auction is taking place a little earlier than usual this year, in-line with the Hong Kong International Coin Convention and Antique Watch Fair. As usual the sale will be held at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Kowloon, Hong Kong, at 10.00am on the 25 th February, and will feature two sessions (868 lots in total) of predominantly Asian coins and banknotes.

The auction opens with lot 1, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) 1-Kuan banknote. The Baldwin’s – Ma Tak Wo auction group sold a similar piece in their last sale for a record breaking US$19,000 and, although this note isn’t in as good condition, they are hopeful that this piece will attract as much attention.

The banknote section continues to show promise with lot 39 a 1908 Hio Lung Kiang Government Bank, Branch Office $5 note in extremely fine condition and leads into an extensive selection of Indian banknotes, the most unique and desirable being lot 227 the 1000 Rupees, first issue note of Hyderabad.

Following the success of the Chinese medals and orders section of the last sale the Hong Kong sale this year offers a smaller but equally as interesting selection. The highlight of the orders is lot 560 – The Order of the Stripped Tiger, First Class Set.

Founded in 1912 by President Yuan Shih-Kai as an award of merit to Chinese Navel and Military Forces, the award cam in nine classes and is no longer awarded. The class is indicated by the number of stars appearing above the tiger’s head and also by the size of the badge itself. Three stars denotes a first class award, two a second class award and one for third class. Lot 560 holds three stars and is in extremely fine condition and estimated at US$12,000 – 15,000. (more…)

Held as part of the 38th annual New York International Numismatic Convention, A.H. Baldwins & Sons New York Sale proved to be a welcome move away from the subdued bidding of 2009. The majority of the interesting lots offered during the course of the week were from the Baldwin’s/Dmitry Markov/M&M auction and the high prices achieved reflected the recent trend for buyers paying well above estimate for quality and rarity.

In marked contrast to last year’s event the bidders appeared to be out in force. Seth Freeman of Baldwin’s commented that there was a real buzz around this years event, both the convention and the auction and buyers ‘seemed to be focused on one thing, spending money to secure key items’.

The results from the sale this year reflected the more optimistic view of the financial markets for 2010. Across the board bidders seemed less cautious than last year and prices realised on particular items were substantially higher.

Highlights from the first day of the sale included the catalogue cover piece (pictured above), lot 128, a Roman Empire Drusus Sestertius which sold for $17,250 USD against a pre-sale estimate of $8,500 USD; and lot 251, a Constantinus II Solidus, Treveri, which achieved $34,500 USD.

As ever the Indian section was strong and attracted a lot of attention, the most interesting lot being 304, a very rare Gupta Dinar, Tiger-slayer type depicting the goddess Ganga standing on an elephant-headed fish, sold for $21,850 USD.

Bidding interest and excitement centered on the Medieval, Portuguese and Russian sections and this is demonstrated by the incredibly strong prices achieved. Highlights of the section incorporate lots 470 and 628, a Carolingian Denarius of Toulouse, and a Portuguese Sancho I Morabitino which sold for $13,800 USD and $25,000 USD respectively.

Lot 1027, a 1707 Shestak Half Tymf, was one of the most unique and interesting pieces in the sale. This coin was first recorded in 1897 where it was the only image available of this very rare coin and soon became the plate coin in all standard references. The groups research produced no other specimen of this particular coin offered at public auction and this was reflected in the realised price of $97,500 USD. (more…)

NGC recently graded the finest known example of a legendary Spanish rarity, the 8 Escudos of Charles II from the Spanish Mediterranean Island of Majorca.

NGC recently certified an extremely rare gold 1689/72 Spanish 8 Escudos struck on the island of Majorca. It is the only known crown-size gold coin of the Cob era struck in Majorca, and graded NGC XF45, with a strong, full strike and abundant underlying luster.

The Calico “Onza” book describes the coin as unique. The 1879 edition of Numismatica Balear by Alvaro Campaner included this coin, illustrating it with a line drawing. A counterfeiter, relying only on the illustration as his model, produced a meticulous replica from which these coins are perhaps better known.

The unique genuine example resided in the Marquis of Palmer collection, as noted by Campaner, and recently sold as part of the Caballero de las Yndias collection, one of the largest private collections of gold coins from Spain and Latin America.

This sale is believed to be the only time the piece has ever been publicly offered for sale.

NGC was privileged to certify this rare specimen.

Ponterio & Associates, Inc., the world and ancients auction division of Bowers and Merena Auctions, conducted its Official Auction of the January 2010 New York International Numismatic Convention (N.Y.I.N.C.) and realized more than $2.5 million. The sale was conducted in two sessions January 8-9, 2010, and offered more than 2,300 lots of important Ancient coins, International coins, paper money, orders and decorations.

“Bidding activity was very strong in our January 2010 N.Y.I.N.C. Auction,” observed Rick Ponterio, executive vice president of Bowers and Merena Auctions, “with many coins and notes selling for noteworthy prices. Particularly impressive results were achieved through our offering of the Chester Skotak Collection of Central American Coinage as well as in the section of the sale dedicated to Russian, Annamese and Argentine Sun Face coinage.”

Continued Ponterio: “We offered the Prize of Russian Numismatics–a 1902 37 1/2 Rubles–as lot 7389. This important coin, attributed as Fr-170, Y-B65, Bitkin-309 and Sev-578 and graded AU, realized $69,000, more than double our pre-sale estimate. Also of note is lot 7139, a very rare 1826 Great Britain 5 Pounds with a mintage of just 150 pieces. An original, unimpaired piece certified Proof-63 Deep Cameo by PCGS, the coin went to the winning bidder at $19,550.”

Additional highlights of the Ponterio & Associates January 2010 N.Y.I.N.C. Auction include:

o Lot 5041, Belize, 10 Dollars, 1.1.1974, P-36a, Superb Gem Uncirculated 67EPQ (PMG), realized $3,278
o Lot 5153, Taiwan, 50 Yen, 1921, P-1924, Very Fine, realized $2,818
o Lot 5448, India, 2 Rupees – 8 Annas, Undated (1917), P-2, Uncirculated, realized $7,705
o Lot 5457, India, 1 Rupee, Undated (circa 1928-1935), P-14b, About Uncirculated-Uncirculated, realized $8,625
o Lot 5832, Macedonia, Mende, AR Tetradrachm, circa 425 B.C., AU (NGC), realized $10,350
o Lot 5921, Rome, AE Aes Grave As, circa 280-269 B.C., Choice Extremely Fine, realized $17,250
o Lot 5942, Rome, Antonia, AV Aureus, posthumous struck circa 41-42 under Claudius, Very Fine, realized $10,350
o Lot 5959, Rome, Diocletian, AV Aureus, Nicomedia Mint, 294-295, Choice AU (NGC), realized $10,638
o Lot 7134, Great Britain, Broad of 20 Shillings, 1656, Fr-273, S-3225, KM-Pn25, AU-55 (NGC), realized $25,300
o Lot 7296, Mexico, Iturbide, Gold Medal, 1821, Grove-5 (unlisted in gold), AU-55 (NGC), realized $14,950
o Lot 7316, Peru, 8 Escudos, 1710-H, Fr-7, KM-38.2, Choice EF, realized $18,400
o Lot 7332, Romania, 20 Lei, 1868, Fr-1, KM-5, AU Details–Reverse Scratched (NGC), realized $37,375
o Lot 7356, Russia, Platinum 6 Rubles, 1830, Fr-159, C-178, Bitkin-56, Sev-599, MS-64 (NGC), realized $26,450
o Lot 7561, China, Pattern Dollar, Tientsin Mint, Undated (1907), L&M-20, K-212, MS-63 (NGC), realized $10,350 (more…)