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Sale 137
Pre-Long Beach Auction
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Photo |
Description |
Realized |
Lot 1208 |
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Straits Settlements. Silver Matte Proof Dollar, 1903 Bombay Mint. KM-25; Prid-3. Edward VII of Great Britain. Bearded shoulder-length portrait in profile facing right wearing the imperial crown and the ermine Robe of State, across his chest the Collar of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. Legend in English EDWARD VII KING AND EMPEROR. The reverse design consists of a perfectly balanced, Eastern-style cruciform of four compartments, the upper and lower ones showing Chinese characters translating to say YAT YUEN (One Dollar), the left and right compartments showing Malay characters that mean SATU RINGGIT (One Dollar). Between an inner circle and the rim are the English equivalents: STRAITS SETTLEMENTS at top and ONE DOLLAR at bottom, and then the date 1903. A lovely scroll ornament at left and right separates the legend. Edge is reeded (milled). From 1903-09 the Dollar was made of .900-fine silver. Toned. Excessively rare. Pop 1; The only example graded at PCGS. Photo on the PCGS Pop Report. PCGS graded Matte Proof 63. Estimated Value $15,000 - UP
British territorial invasions (imperialism) in Asia included three territories-Singapore, Penang and Malacca-that were ruled over by the East India Company and its armies from 1826/1828 (variously for the three) until the EIC was dissolved in August 1858 by an act of Parliament which transferred all of its properties to the Crown of England. These were administered together, including India, from London. The geographical area was vast and a challenge to govern. In 1867, the Straits Settlements became a separate British Crown Colony, stretching from the southern border of Siam to Singapore on the tip of the Malay Peninsula, across the South China Sea from Borneo. At the same time that an act of Parliament created the Settlements, a related act repealed the legal tender of Indian coins for the colony, declaring that from April 1867 onward the official coinage was to be based on the "Dollar"-the generic name for all similarly sized silver coins issued by Great Britain, Hong Kong, France, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. These were all circulating in Asia. Then as now, Chinese merchants dominated the economy. Many styles and denominations of coins were issued for this territory, the largest not occurring until 1903, the silver dollar seen here in a special format-struck in Matte Proof and extremely rare as such.
Ex Noble Sale 78, April 5, 2005, lot 5520.
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Realized
$48,000 |
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Lot 1209 |
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Straits Settlements. Satin Proof 20 Cents, 1903. KM-22. Royal mint. Edward VII. Excessively rare. Pop 2; None Finer at NGC. Also one other graded in NGC PF 60. NGC graded Proof 62 Satin. Estimated Value $5,000 - UP
Ex Noble Sale 78, April 5, 2005, lot 5519.
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Realized
$15,600 |
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Lot 1210 |
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Straits Settlements. Silver Dollar, 1926 Bombay Mint. KM-33; Prid-12. George V of Great Britain. Bearded, shoulder-length portrait in profile facing left wearing the imperial crown and the ermine Robe of State, across his chest the Collar of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, below his neck the badge of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Legend in English GEORGE V KING AND EMPEROR OF INDIA. Beaded border. Reverse styled as on the issue of Edward VII: balanced cruciform of four compartments, the upper and lower ones showing Chinese characters translating as YAT YUEN (One Dollar), the left and right compartments being Malay characters for SATU RINGGIT (One Dollar). Between an inner circle and the rim, in English, are STRAITS SETTLEMENTS at the top and ONE DOLLAR at bottom; the date of issue, 1926, follows at bottom. A lovely scroll ornament at left and right separates the legend. Edge is reeded (milled). This smaller-diameter Dollar was made of .500-fine silver beginning in 1919. Lightly toned with original mint luster. Very Rare. Pop 2; Tied for Finest graded at NGC. NGC graded MS-62. Estimated Value $7,500 - UP
The Straits Settlements silver dollars, all of which are relatively scarce, especially so in well-preserved conditions, endured as money for roughly two decades before ceasing. From 1903-04 the first ones appeared, in the name of King Edward VII, in normal size and silver content (.900 fine). In 1907 and again just briefly (until 1909) a dollar of .900 fineness was made of reduced size. In the reign of George V, similar sized dollars were struck from 1919-26 but in reduced (.500) fineness. Only 1919 and 1920 were made in any quantity. None appeared dated 1921-24. Proofs were made of the first two and again in 1925 and 1926, including later restrikes. No mintage figures have been located for the last two dates; all were long supposed to have been made only in proof state. Yet here we see a dollar dated 1926 that is clearly not a proof. All of these dollars, from 1903 until the end, were competing in commerce against Trade Dollars made for use in the East by Mexico and other formerly Spanish dominions, by France and even by the USA. For years, Britain also minted its own Trade Dollars in quantity. All in all, the handsome silver dollars of the Straits Settlements became unnecessary, trusted as they were. The 1926 dollar was the last of its kind and is extremely rare today.
Ex Baldwin's Auction 45, May 3, 2006, lot 1495.
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Realized
$42,000 |
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