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Astounding Auction Results on Chinese Rarities in Spring 2022

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1916 (ND) Pattern L. Giorgi Dollar PCGS SP63, which sold for nearly $3 million. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Click image to enlarge.

I’ve always loved coins, tokens, medals, exonumia, ephemera, etc. I can be a bit of a packrat because I like lots of cool old stuff. Sure, I’m a U.S. coin guy first, but I also appreciate coins from other countries, too. After all, some of these countries were making great coins centuries, yes — centuries, before the U.S. Mint was even conceived. Indeed, ancient coins were made some two millennia prior to the U.S. Mint.

Have you ever heard the old saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”? My grandpa Forrest often reminded me of this saying when I went off on tangents as a young person. Find something you like and learn all you can about it. Of course, there has to be some interest in the subject, too, but determining what you really like can be confusing.

Recently, I’ve had the realization that I must learn more about the Asian numismatic market — specifically the Chinese coin market. Recent Chinese coin auction results have been quite favorable. In three separate auctions including the Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio, Taisei & Royal Mint, and Gu Quan auctions, there were multiple Chinese coins that sold for more than $1 million each. Indeed the top five lots in the Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio auction had a combined auction total of nearly $7 million for those five lots!

Both the Year 3 (1911) Long Whiskered Dragon Silver Dollar in PCGS SP63+ (#172020) in the Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio auction and the 1916 (ND) Pattern L. Giorgi Silver Dollar in PCGS SP63 (449061) in the spring auction in the Nanjing Three Provinces Sale brought $3 million and $2.96 million, respectively, in recent sales.

You have my attention!

Breaking down “just” the million-dollar-plus PCGS-graded rarities in the auctions nets an astounding six total coins. They and their perspective auction venues are listed below in order of price realized:

  • 1911 Year 3 Long Whiskered Dragon Dollar PCGS SP63+, Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio — $3,000,000
  • 1916 (ND) Pattern L. Giorgi Dollar PCGS SP63, Nanjing Sanxing — $2,961,970
  • 1896 Chihli Pei Yang Arsenal Dollar PCGS XF45, Nanjing Sanxing — $1,284,091
  • 1899 Guangxu 6 Candareens 50C PCGS MS62+PL, Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio — $1,200,000
  • 1914 Tall Hat L. Giorgi Dollar PCGS SP67, Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio — $1,170,000
  • 1932 Yuan/Dollar Birds at Bottom PCGS SP63BN, Nanjing Sanxing — $1,027,273

While the U.S. rare coin market is quite strong, the international market is exceptionally active, too. While I’m not prognosticating about any markets here, the hammer prices of these coins speak volumes about the tremendous vigor of the Chinese numismatic marketplace these days.

Auction Results China