Islamic and Chinese Rarities at Stephen Album

Stephen Album Rare Coins will hold its Auction 36 on January 23-25, 2020 at its offices in Santa Rosa, California. The auction is comprised of exactly 3,100 lots of Ancient, Islamic, Chinese, General World, and Indian coins, as well as a small selection of Numismatic Literature. Single lots will be available for viewing at the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) from January 16 to 19.

Some featured collections in the sale include; The Jerry D. Williams Collection of Elephant Coins & Medals Part II, The Ahmed Sultan Collection of Ottoman Coins, and The Christian Rasmussen Collection of Ilkhan Coins Part II. The firm’s founder Stephen Album has commented that, “The Islamic coins offered in this auction are unprecedented in terms of both rarity and scope”. The sale also contains a number of high grade Chinese dollars that are sure to see spirited bidding.

Both internet and floor bidding are available for this sale. Some highlights from the sale follow:

• Lot 138: Sasanian Kingdom. Queen Boran, 630-631, silver drachm (3.64g), AM (Amul), year 1, G-228, cf. Saeedi-299, extremely rare mint for Boran, located in northern Iran near the Caspian Sea, pleasing VF, RRR. Estimated Value $3,250 to $4,000.
• Lot 1362: British India. George V, 1910-1936, silver ½ rupee, 1911 (c), KM-521, Prid-318, S&W 8.61, nice natural toning, one-year type, a fine example of this true rarity! PCGS graded MS64, RR. Estimated Value $7,000 to $9,000.

• Lot 1453: China. Silver 50 tael (liang) sycee (1737g), Sinkiang Province, Cribb-BMC-Class-XVI, Group A, #111, Xinjiang Yuanbao Chinese Turkestan Principal Ingot, Local Tax Ingot, stamped twice vertically dao yàn (Circuit Inspector) and once horizontally with Turki inscription “[Silver] Smith Ahmad at the Pasha’s Office”, minor surface marks with well applied and clearly defined stamps and attractive old tone, VF, RR. Although similar in style and manufacture to the Hubei Ersibao (Class XIII) ingots, the Sinkiang ingots are clearly a class of their own. Aside from the use of multiple languages of Chinese and Uighur, they are cast from a smaller mold with narrow sides which causes them to be smaller and broader at the base. Estimated Value $8,000 to $10,000.

• Lot 1509: Kirin. Kuang Hsu, 1875-1908, silver dollar, ND (1898), Y-183, L&M-516, large scales on dragon variety, PCGS graded MS62. Estimated Value $10,000 to $15,000.

• Lot 1720: Tirol. Sigismund, 1477-1490, silver guldinar, 1486, Dav-8087, Levinson IV-49a, Frey-274, Hall Mint issue, die-cutter Wenzel Kröndl, Archduke standing slightly right facing with sword and scepter with .SIGISIIUnNDVS:*: – ARChIDVX.AVSTRIE. around // knight on horseback right holding flag with date below and 16 provincial arms around, bold strike, never mounted and problem-free, NGC graded VF20, RR. This is the oldest dated thaler, preceded in 1484 by the halfguldiner. Archduke Sigismund had already produced gold florins in large numbers, but the Schwaz silver mine was yielding a huge amount. So the idea for a big silver coin worth a gold guilder arose. However, these coins did not get their name until the beginning of the 16th century, the “Joachimstalers”, later called Talers, which were coined in the Bohemian Joachimstal by the Counts Schlick. With a 1:12 ratio of gold to silver, a large silver coin of 31.9g (29.9g fine) was produced. Estimated Value $8,000 to $10,000

The firm is now taking consignments for its Auction 37 on May 28-30, 2020.

More information can be found on their website.