CHINA. Shanghai. Kwan Ping Trade Coinage. Silver "Chinese-Foreign

lot/china shanghai kwan ping trade coinage silver chinese foreign 3CmwadF 632470704 / For sale

lot/china shanghai kwan ping trade coinage silver chinese foreign 3CmwadF 632470704

For salePrice history

lot/china shanghai kwan ping trade coinage silver chinese foreign 3CmwadF 632470704

For salePrice history

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CHINA. Shanghai. Kwan Ping Trade Coinage. Silver "Chinese-Foreign

Excessively Rare "Chinese-Foreign Circulating Coin" Pattern The Finest Certified -- An Unduplicated Chinese Masterpiece CHINA. Shanghai. Kwan Ping Trade Coinage. Silver "Chinese-Foreign Circulating Coin" Tael Pattern, ND (ca. 1867/8). London Mint; mm: Anchor. T'ung-chih (Tongzhi). PCGS SPECIMEN-66. L&M-595; K-925 (dated to ca. 1858); KM-PnA130 (under Hong Kong); WS-1117 (dated to 1854; rarity: ★★★★★). Just as elusive as it is mysterious, the "Chinese-Foreign Circulating Coin" series has been the subject of much debate with respect to not just its date of manufacture, but also its origins and its intended usage. Previously, the government mints of Berlin, London, and Osaka had all been suggested as possibilities, with it now being certain that the dies and patterns originated in England, as recounted by Joe Cribb in his reference Money in the Bank. The original design for the series was proposed by W. F. Wade, Chinese Secretary of the British Legation in Peking. Wade's propositions for this pattern series were relayed on 19 October 1867, via Captain Kinder, to the Governor of Hong Kong, with the resulting dies for these patterns being housed at the Royal Mint in London (where they were deposited in 1888). Original concept drawings of the proposed coinage design, as well as correspondences from Kinder, also survive in London. Said dies and subsequent patterns, such as this lofty Gem, were almost certainly produced in England with the intention that the circulating coinage would thus be struck by the mint in Hong Kong. However, the mint there closed the following year, leaving the project abandoned. While some in the past have suggested their intended purpose as an trade coinage with Korea (on account of the iconography of the yin-yang and eight trigrams), this has been abandoned rather extensively by the likes of Kann (pp. 324-5). Rather than trade with a specific country, it would appear much more likely that the series had an intended function as more of a global trade issue, and one that would be based upon the Maritime Customs scale in the denominations of 1 Tael, 5 Mace, 2 Mace, 1 Mace, and 5 Candareens. Intriguingly, all denominations feature a small "mintmark" in the form of an anchor in the outer border of the "double dragons" side. A recent discovery (2017/8) of archival documents, photographs, and personal correspondence has now placed a date, location, and mintage for all five denominations. In a letter from Peter Campbell to Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of China's Imperial Maritime Custom Service dated 31 December 1875, a five-piece sample coin set was sent to bank agents in Shanghai and Yokohama on 17 December, while a box containing 100 samples of each coin was sent from Southampton, England the previous day on 30 December. This not only indicates how many pieces were struck, a paltry 102 pieces for each denomination, but a location of when and whence they were shipped. Prior to the discovery of the present piece, only nine examples were known in all states of preservation, with several locked away in institutional collections. The present example, acquired by Mr. L. M. Wang directly from his longtime friend and high school classmate, Mr. H. Chang, the famous early-mid 20th century Chinese numismatist, was previously unrecorded and has been off the market since 1950. This piece stands as a testament to Mr. Wang's long-term commitment, as he paid a then-meaningful amount to add it to his collection. Only now, some 76 years later, is it returning back into the purview of the numismatic community. An iconic coin for an iconic collection. Previously recorded examples as cited by author Lin Hsin-chang: 1) Kann catalog # 925 (1954); Hans M. F. Schulman auction of the Kann collection (1971) Lot # 1056; Liu Gaizao collection (1979), resold to Chen Jimao (2005); Hosane auction (2024) Lot # 414; Nearly Uncirculated. 2) Jess Peters auction of the Kann collection (1972) Lot # 600; About Uncirculated. 3) Superior Galleries auction of the Goodman collection (1991) Lot # 1548; now in a private American collection; Choice Proof, superb color and condition. 4) Eli Wallitt collection (1989); Fengfu Museum # 58; sold to a Henan collector and held since 2008; Gem Proof, (until now) finest known with superb color. 5) Hong Kong auction (1996) Lot # 253; Chengxuan auction (2007) Lot # 1721; Hong Kong auction (2008) Lot # 178; present whereabouts unknown; Nearly Extremely Fine. 6) Bowker collection, donated; Nearly Extremely Fine. 7) Li Weixian collection; now in the Shanghai Museum; Nearly Uncirculated. 8) Kalgan Shih collection; now in the Shanghai Museum; Choice Extremely Fine. 9) Royal Mint Museum; Uncirculated. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) museum collection is not counted (as it is merely a textual record, and may duplicate this ninth piece). The present crown, the apex of the series, presents TANTALIZING RARITY, with it being the finest of just four certified across the two major services (the others being a PCGS SPECIMEN-65+, PCGS SPECIMEN-62, and an NGC AU-50). Its sublime manufacture, with a scintillating, razor-sharp strike, its provocative toning, with burnished pastel hues, and its radiant luster, with cartwheeling brilliance across both sides, all combine to make it an undoubted capstone coin for even the most advanced cabinets dedicated to the loftiest of vintage Chinese RARITIES. Not surprisingly, this is the first representative of the denomination that we have had the privilege of offering, and is the first from the series more broadly since 2015 and 2012 respectively, when we offered the 1 Mace denomination. It would be a massive understatement in saying that this stands as an immense opportunity, as, when one takes into account all of its exceedingly strong and impressive accolades, it may, in fact, represent a singular lifetime opportunity that one simply cannot miss. Estimate: $2,000,000 - $3,000,000. Provenance: From the Liu Mung Wang (汪柳門) Collection. Purchased Privately from H. Chang, 1950. To view all items from the Liu Mung Wang (汪柳門) Collection, click here. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA. Click here to see Coins in Motion. 曠世難逢"中外通寶"樣幣評級之冠舉世無雙中華瑰寶中外通寶關平銀壹兩樣幣。倫敦造幣廠。張璜舊藏。珍稀度：★★★★★。中外通寶關平銀壹兩樣幣。倫敦造幣廠。張璜舊藏。中外通寶系列之神秘，幾與其珍罕齊名；不僅鑄造年代眾說紛紜，來源與用途亦向來爭議未休。柏林、倫敦、大阪等官方造幣廠皆曾列為可能產地，惟據喬-克里布於《Money in the Bank》一書所載，今已確證其模具及樣幣實源出英國。該系列原始設計由英國駐北京公使館漢務參贊威妥瑪提出，並於1867年10月19日經香港造幣廠總辦金德上尉轉交香港總督，模具於1888年存入倫敦皇家造幣廠。原始設計圖稿與金德往來書信，至今仍保存於倫敦。模具及隨之製成之樣幣，皆於英國完成，原擬交由香港造幣廠鑄造流通貨幣；惜該廠於翌年關閉，計劃遂告中止。雖有學者根據陰陽太極與八卦圖案，推測此系列為對韓貿易之用，然此說已為耿愛德（參見其著作第324-5頁）所明確否定。此系列或更可能非針對特定國家，而係為全球貿易所設，並以海關兩為計值基準，面額計有壹兩、五錢、二錢、一錢及五分。值得玩味的是，所有面額之「雙龍」面外緣，皆鐫有一小型錨形廠記。據近年（2017/8年）新發現之檔案文件、舊照及私人信函所示，已確知此五種面額之鑄造年份、地點及數量。1875年12月31日，彼得-坎貝爾致函中國海關總稅務司赫德，提及一套五枚樣幣已於同月17日寄往上海及橫濱銀行代理；另各面額百枚樣幣一箱，則於前一日（12月30日）由英國南安普敦啟運。由此不僅可知每種面額僅鑄102枚之少數，更可確認其運送時間與出發地點。在此枚錢幣發現之前，各品相等級之存世品僅知九枚，其中數枚為機構典藏所收。本品由汪老購自其摯友兼高中同窗--二十世紀上半葉著名中國錢幣學家張璜先生，此前未見著錄，且自1950年以來未見於市。汪老昔以重金購藏，其於錢幣蒐研之熱愛，可見一斑。時隔七十六年，此幣終得重返泉界，幣既經典，藏亦經典，可謂雙絕。據林憲璋先生考證，本品存世有九枚：1) 1954年耿愛德目錄第925號；1971年Schulman拍賣耿愛德舊藏第1056號；1979年劉改造藏集著錄，2005年轉售陳吉茂；2024年泓盛拍賣第414號；近未流通品相。2) 1972年Jess Peters耿愛德拍賣第600號；近未流通品相。 3) 1991年古德曼拍賣第1548號；現為美國私人藏家收藏；精製精選品相，包漿品相俱佳。 4) 1989年原伊萊舊藏；鴻禧美術館第58號；2008年售予河南藏家迄今；精製極美品相，為當時已知最佳，包漿絕美。 5) 1996年香港拍賣第253號；2007年誠軒拍賣第1721號；2008年香港拍賣第178號；去向不明；近極美品相。 6) 包克舊藏，已捐贈；近極美品相。 7) 李偉先舊藏，現上海博物館藏；近未流通品相。 8) 施嘉幹舊藏，現上海博物館藏；精選極美品相。 9) 英國皇家造幣廠館藏；未流通品相。香港匯豐銀行館藏，不計（僅文字紀錄，或與第九枚重複）。此枚壹兩乃系列中最高面額，或為現存品相之冠，極為稀罕，於兩大評級服務中僅四枚獲評，而本品獨居榜首（其餘分別為PCGS SPECIMEN-65+、PCGS SPECIMEN-62及NGC AU-50）。其鑄造工藝卓絕，底板鏡面，圖文銳利如削；包漿雅緻，呈柔和淡彩；光澤耀目，兩面車輪光流轉生輝。凡此種種，無疑使其成為頂級中國珍稀錢幣收藏中不可或缺之鎮藏瑰寶。此為我司首度有幸呈獻此面額，亦是2015年及2012年先後上拍一錢面額以來，該系列再度亮相於世。若說此為千載難逢之機遇，可能言之猶淺；細數其種種卓越之處，或屬畢生難逢、不容錯過之良機。

Estimate:£908,460

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