The 1919 silver goat medal, graded Mint State 64 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., realized $30,000 (including the buyer’s fee), against a presale estimate of $1,000 to $2,000. Many lots in the sale established record prices for their type, according to Chou, but one lot soared to double-digit multiples of its presale estimate. The coin in this auction had an estimate of $230,000 to $400,000 U.S. In the 1970s, the sale of the Heaton Mint archives helped propel these coins into the marketplace, and Wright’s research helps answer questions (but poses many others) regarding their curious nature. The Heaton Mint was enlisted to create dies for this mint, but neither the dies nor the coins ever made it to China, according to Wright’s research, because of a change in provincial government. “Why then would Hunan purchase a foreign style coinage plant, which would require the presence of foreign workmen to set it up and a foreign supervisor to keep in running?” the auction house asks.Ī news article from 1897, recently discovered, suggests that the Canton Mint sent workers to Hunan to establish the mint there. The province’s noted reputation for rebuffing foreigners further clouds the waters. Earliest minting records for Hunan omit these coins, which pre-date the official opening of the provincial mint in 1901, but there are also 10- and 20-cent coins dated 18. The circumstances allowing the existence of these coins are murky. “No examples are in any Chinese museums or collections in mainland China,” the auction house said.

Six examples of this rarity are known, according to the auction house, citing research in the Heaton Mint archives by Richard Wright in the 1970s.įour of the six coins are now in collections in Taiwan, and the whereabouts of one example is unknown. The coin is one of two graded by PCGS, the other rated Specimen 63 and sold by Champion in 2009. Three collectors native to Taiwan bid on the coin, according to Chou, two based in Taiwan and one based in the United States.

Chinese silver coins for sale