Lot 1208
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 At the same time that an act of Parliament created the Settlements, a related act repealed the legal tender of Indian coins for the colony, declaring that from April 1867 onward the official coinage was to be based on the "Dollar"-the generic name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 |
