Sale 23
Lot 1469
MUGHAL: Jahangir, 1605-1628, AV zodiac mohur (10.84g), Agra, AH1028 year 14. KM-180.19. BMC-350 (same obverse die). Capricorn (December/January), mythical creature, forepart of goat with scaled fish-like tail, crouching left, solar rays behind, NGC graded EF45, RRRR, ex Joel Malter auction 6/19/1985. Estimated Value$50,000 - 70,000.
Capricorn is one of the rarest of Jahangir's zodiac mohurs. No specimen has been posted on CoinArchives. There is one specimen on Zeno.ru, from the Ashmolean Museum and dated AH1033 year 18, from the same dies as the piece illustrated in KM. Examples of the early years of the Capricorn mohurs bear a complete border of solar rays, as on this piece, but later issues have three gaps in the border of rays, for the head, forelegs and tail of Capricorn. This example appears to be a die match for the obverse photographed example in Stanley Lane Poole's Catalogue of the Coins of the Mughal Emperors in the British Museum, 1892.
Estimate $50,000-70,000
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Lot 68
ARAB-BYZANTINE: AV solidus (4.27g), NM, ND. A-3548.2. Miles (1967), Plate XLV:4, Bernardi-2. Large & small facing busts, short beards / horizontal bar on steps, degenerate Greek text, officina letters AΘ after AYΓΓ on reverse, with Greek letter I left of the steps on reverse (for the number 10, perhaps an indiction year or the caliphal year of Mu'awiya), choice EF, RRRR. Estimated Value$40,000 - 50,000.
Derived from the second series of Heraclius (610-641) & his son Constantine, struck 613-629. The crosses atop the crowns replaced by globes, the cross in the field removed, the cross on the steps replaced by a horizontal bar. Current evidence seems to verify the theory that these imitations of Byzantine coins were official issues under the authority of the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah I (661-680). They are of excellent style, despite the somewhat barbarous Greek legends, too well engraved to be the casual production of unofficial mints. There is also a remarkable reference in a contemporary Syrian document, "The Maronite Chronicle", which states that the caliph Mu'awaiya "minted gold and silver, but it was not accepted, because it had no cross on it".
Estimate $40,000-50,000
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Lot 996
QING: Xuan Tong, 1909-1911, AE cash, Board of Revenue mint, Peking. H-22.1516, North branch mint, cast in 1909, one coin missing, thus nearly complete casting 'money tree' of 59 coins, EF, RRRR, ex Wéiduolìya Collection. Estimated Value$10,000 - 14,000.
This example is very similar to Lot 68 in the 1991 Singapore Spink-Taisei Auction 10. There were 23 money trees in that auction, all from the Mr. & Mrs. Byron White Collection. The only difference is that this example has three auspicious bats at the bottom of the tree and one at top, versus the opposite for the White Collection example. Another coin tree of Guang Xu with 58 coins sold in the Stack's Bowers & Ponterio Sale 174, Lot 21070 for $13,000; another similar to the Stack's item sold in Baldwin's in 2012 for $12,000. This example is much rarer and more complete than the previously mentioned examples and housed in a custom wood display case.
Estimate $10,000-14,000
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Lot 18
SASANIAN KINGDOM: Shahpur I, 241-272, AV stater (7.25g). G-21, standard type, bust right, wearing mural crown with korymbos / fire-altar between 2 attendants, one small area of weakness near the rim, bold EF, RR. Estimated Value$8,000 - 10,000.
Alram & Gyselen style E, similar to the silver drachm SNS-71, especially in the arrangement of the reverse design. Not from the recent hoard.
Estimate $8,000-10,000
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Lot 1258
HONG KONG: Victoria, 1841-1901, AR dollar, 1867. KM-10. Fully brilliant luster, lovely for type! PCGS graded MS62. Estimated Value$7,500 - 9,500
Estimate $7,500-9,500
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Lot 2486
SPAIN: Carlos II, 1665-1700, AV 8 escudos, Sevilla, 1700. KM-233.3. Cayon-7952. Crowned coat of arms surrounded by the collar of the Golden Fleece / cross potent in a quatrefoil, very rare one-year type, lovely example! NGC graded AU55. Estimated Value$7,000 - 9,000.
A similar example graded AU-50 by PCGS was sold in Heritage Auction 3026, Lot 25818, for $9,000.
Estimate $7,000-9,000
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Lot 1494
MUGHAL: Shah Shuja, 1657-1660, AR rupee (11.55g), Akbarnagar, AH1068 year one (ahad). KM-275.1. Lovely strike, 4-panel legend on obverse, tiny flan defect at the middle of the obverse, without any testmarks on the obverse & reverse, but there are 2 interesting small banker's marks on the edge, one of the nicest rupees we have ever seen for this reign, choice VF to EF, RRR, ex Paul Stevens Collection. Estimated Value$6,000 - 8,000.
Shah Shuja was one of four sons of Shah Jahan I to claim the empire after their father's death. Shah Shuja was based in Rajmahal in Jharkhand state, then called Akbarnagar, but was soon defeated by Aurangzeb, fled toward Arakan, eventually dying in Manipur in AH1071 (February 1661). His known coins are all dated AH1068, nearly all from the mint of Akbarnagar, all extremely rare.
Estimate $6,000-8,000
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Lot 1247
SZECHUAN-SHENSI SOVIET: AR dollar, 1934. Y-513.2. L&M-891. Small stars, PCGS graded EF45 Secure Holder. Estimated Value$5,000 - 7,000.
The Szechuan-Shensi Soviet was part of the discontiguous territories of the Chinese Soviet Republic was a state established in November 1931 by the future Communist Party of China leader, Mao Zedong, general Zhu De and others, and lasted until 1937.
Estimate $5,000-7,000
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Lot 322
EGYPT: Mahmud II, 1808-1839, AR 5 qirsh (6.48g), Misr, AH1223 year 31. KM-184. An exceptionally well struck and well preserved example of this very rare denomination for the reign of Mahmud II, EF, RRR. Estimated Value$4,500 - 5,500
Estimate $4,500-5,500
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Lot 2246
YEMEN: Ahmad, 1948-1962, AV ½ riyal, San'a, AH1380. Y-G16. A lovely example! NGC graded MS64. Estimated Value$4,400 - 5,200.
Struck to the weight standard of 2 British gold sovereigns.
Estimate $4,400-5,200
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