Islamic and Chinese rarities at Stephen Album

Stephen Album Rare Coins will hold its Auction 34 on May 23-26, 2019 at its offices in Santa Rosa, California. The auction is made up of 3,000 lots of coins from all time periods, including ancients, early Islamic, Chinese, General World, and Indian Coins. The session on May 26 is an internet bidding session for 200 lots of Numismatic Literature.
One of the areas that strong bidding is expected to take place is in the Chinese coin section. In that section bidders will find many nice dollars, high grade minors, and also a rare Tibetan pattern.
The Indian coin section also contains many choice coins, including a number of gold mohurs that are graded Mint State by third-party grading companies. A true highlight of the sale is a gold nazarana mohur from the Mughal Empire. This special issue is struck on a broad flan for presentation purposes, and is of the utmost rarity. This coin is featured on the auction catalog cover.

It should also be noted that over 900 General World coins are included in the sale from all continents (Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia). The firm is generally regarded as having strong offerings in early Islamic, Indian and other Asian coins. However, a very significant portion of the sale is in coins in other categories. A few highlights include an Oliver Cromwell crown graded MS63 by PCGS, as well as an Egyptian 3-medal set from the time of King Fuad which is of the utmost rarity.

Some highlights from the sale follow:

Lot 2524: Mughal: Shah Alam II, 1759-1806, AV nazarana mohur (10.69g), Shahjahanabad, AH1218 year 46, KM-721, Stevens- 8.2, 34mm, with mint epithet Dar al-Khilafat, struck in gold, NGC graded MS63+, Certificate #4668521-001.
Nazarana, Nazrana or Nazars were presented to the king on special occasions. People, who wanted to present nazars, would order and buy the special struck coins from the mint. For the nazar or nazarana coins, an extra fee had to be paid as the production required extra work. For the mint, it was a nice extra income and almost all the nazarana coins were returned back to the mint again shortly thereafter. This is only the second example offered for public sale that the auction house is aware of and likely the finest known example! Estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.

Lot 877: Great Mongols: Töregene, 1241-1246, AR 10 dirhams (28.52g), al-Kurraman, AH641, A-, within a square, the Abbasid caliph: al-musta’im / billah amir / al-mu’minin, with floral ornaments in each of the four marginal segments // also in square, duriba hadha / fi’l-balad / al-kurraman, with the date arranged in the margin: bi-tarikh sana / ihda / (wa) arba’in / wa sitmi’a, one small area of weakness, VF-EF, RRRR, ex M.H. Mirza Collection. Estimated at $18,000-$22,000.

Lot 1697: Egypt: Fuad I, as King, 1922-1936, SET of 3 extremely rare silver Art Deco style “Egyptian Royal Tour” medals in a period plush case, 1) 72mm, Medal for the Official Visit to Rome 1927, by Aurelio Mistruzzi (189g); uniformed bust right of Fuad wearing fez, name and titles in Arabic around // VISITA VFFICIALE DE S. M. FVAD I RE D’EGITTO ALL’ ITALIA II-IV AGOSTO MCMXXVII legend around Naked River Godesses of the Nile (NILVS) and Tiber (TIBER) standing facing; beyond to either side, the Sphinx and the Colosseum. Casolari V/98 var 2) 72mm, Medal for the Official Visit to Belgium 1927 by S.E. Vernier and G. Devreese (173g); uniformed bust right of Fuad wearing fez, name and titles in Arabic around // EGYPTE / BELGIQUE above hieroglyphic tablets, Sphinx and Belgic Lion together below; in exergue, VISITE OFFICIELLE / DE SA MAJESTE FOUAD I / ROI D’EGYPTE / A LA BELGIQUE / XXVI-XXVIII OCTOBRE / MCMXXVII in cartouche. Casolari -. 3) 72mm, Medal for the Official Visit to Czechoslovakia 1929, by S.E. Vernier and Lad Saeud (175g), uniformed bust right of Fuad wearing fez, name and titles in Arabic around // Coat of arms of Kingdom of Egypt and Czechoslovakia above personifications of both nations holding hands, both atop floral columns, VISITE OFFICIELLE / DE SA MAJESTE FOUAD I / ROI D’EGYPTE / A LA TCHECOSLOVAQUIE / XXVI-XXVIII JUIN / MCMXXIX between the two figures, struck at the Monnaie de Paris (the Paris Mint) These silver issues are unpublished in the standard references and are likely unique with period case, all mint state, set of 3 silver medals, RRR. Estimated at $10,000 to $20,000.

Lot 1469: Great Britain: Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, 1653-1658, AR crown, 1658/7, KM-D207, S-3226, dies by Thomas Simon, struck at the Frenchman Pierre Blondeaus’ mint at Drury House, London; OLIVAR D G R P ANG SCO HIB & PRO (Oliver, by the Grace of God, Protector of the Republic of England, Scotland and Ireland), laureate and draped bust of Cromwell left // PAX QVAERITVR BELLO (The peace is acquired through war), crowned garnished coat-of-arms, HAS NISI PERITVRVS MIHI ADIMAT NEMO (let no-one remove these letters from me, under penalty of death) on edge in relief, a lovely example of this popular type! PCGS graded MS63, R. Estimated at $8,000 to $10,000.

Lot 2260: Tibet: pattern 5 sho, ND (1929-30), KM-PnA12, YZM-497, Autonomous Tibetan issue, , PCGS graded Specimen 65. In older editions of the Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins, this coin was listed as a regular issue (as Y-32), but it is now believed that it is a pattern coin struck between 1928 and 1930 in the Dode mint with the imported coining presses from the British firm Taylor & Challen. This is an absolutely fantastic example of this rare Tibetan pattern silver type. This is the finest graded by either NGC or PCGS! Estimated at $8,000 to $10,000.

Lot 13: Lydia: Time of Kroisos, 561-546 BC or later, AV stater (10.72g), Sardes mint, S-3411, Boston MFA-2068; Carradice, pl. X, 2; Dewing-2426, heavy series, confronted foreparts of lion facing right and bull facing left, both with straight legs // two square incuse punches of different sizes, VF, RR, ex Classical Numismatic Group Mail Bid Sale 60, lot 769. Estimated at $5,000 to $7,000.

Lot 2827: Literature: Calbeto de Grau, Gabriel, Compendio de Las Piezas de Ocho Reales; Volume I & II, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1970, Volume I 355 pages, Volume II 378 pages, hardcover with blue decorated cloth binding, text in English and Spanish, Volume One is a comprehensive study of the Eight Reales of Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America, an index of the rulers of the time period, and a listing of mints in alphabetical order, profusely illustrated, Volume Two is a comprehensive continuation of the mints, and a brief numismatic history of the rulers from Ferdinand and Isabella (1474-1505) to Alfonso XIII (1886-1931), “This set is regarded by many as the definitive guide to eight reales. It catalogs virtually every eight real coin ever minted and is richly illustrated with hundreds of photographs,” set of 2 volumes. Estimated at $900 to $1,100.

The firm is now taking consignments for its Auction 35 on September 12-13, 2019.

More information can be found on the Stephen Album website.

And here you can browse through the online auction catalogue of sale 34.