Lot 1503 SYRIA: Faisal I, 1920, AV dinar, 1920/AH1338, KM-67, Fr-10, Schön-A1, crowned royal coat of arms with Arabic legend, dinar al-mamlakat al-suriyat (dinar of the Kingdom of Syria) around, date below // faysal al-awwal (Faisal the First) tughra in Arabic within floral wreath, voided heptagram above, date below; a superb lustrous specimen and the finest-graded example by either NGC or PCGS; an estimated mintage of only 12 pieces, a coin of tremendous rarity and great historical significance! PCGS graded MS64, RRR. The Arab Kingdom of Syria was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized state that began as a "fully and absolutely independent Arab constitutional government" announced on 5 October 1918 with the permission of the British military and gained de facto independence as an "Emirate" after the withdrawal of the British forces from OETA (Occupied Enemy Territory Administration) East on 26 November 1919. It was proclaimed as a Kingdom on 8 March 1920. As a "Kingdom" it existed only a little over four months, from 8 March to 25 July 1920. During its brief existence, the kingdom was led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali's son Faisal bin Hussein. Despite its claims to the territory of Greater Syria, Faisal's government controlled a limited area and was dependent on Britain which, along with France, generally opposed the idea of a Greater Syria and refused to recognize the kingdom. The kingdom surrendered to French forces on 25 July 1920. Faisal then lived in exile in England for about one year before being proclaimed King of Iraq. Estimate $30,000-40,000

Lot 951 WARRING STATES: State of Chu, 400-200 BC, AV block money (19.27g), H-5.1, ying yuan in archaic script stamped on cut section of two pieces, EF, RR. Following a number of battles with neighboring states, the Chu capital moved to Ying, near modern-day Jingzhou City on the Jianghan Plain in the western part of Hubei Province. Ying was the capital of the State of Chu until 278 BC. These gold block money items were made in what is now Hubei province. They were cut from larger bars which allowed for the making of small denominations. Historically, this is China's first gold currency with a fixed shape and size. Estimate $8,000-12,000

Lot 1057 QING: Jia Qing, 1796-1820, AE cash coin tree, Xi'an mint, Shaanxi Province, H-22.533 for type, 47cm-long cast tree of 24 coins (1 loose and attached with string) and 1 charm (50mm, fú shòu kang níng // bâo quán, dragon and phoenix), EF, RR, ex Charles Opitz Collection. The term "coin tree" is usually associated with the traditional method of casting Chinese coins. By the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the coins were being made in sand molds. Each mold would have a number of coin impressions so that many coins could be produced at a time. These coin impressions were connected by channels so that the molten bronze could be poured into the mold at one opening and then flow to all parts of the mold. Once the bronze had cooled and hardened, the two halves of the mold were separated and the coins removed. However, since all the coins were connected by the channels through which the bronze had flowed, the bronze in the channels had hardened as well resulting in all the coins being connected together. The metal object that came out of the mold actually looked like a small "tree". The main channel through which the bronze had flowed resembled the "trunk" of a tree. The smaller channels which ran from the main channel to each individual coin looked like "branches". The coins were the "leaves". The coins were then broken off of the "branches". This left a small metal stub, called a "sprue", on the edge of each coin where it had been attached to the branch. The molding process would also leave a little excess metal on the edge of the coins. The sprues and excess metal needed to be filed off to improve the appearance of the coins. The coins, which all had square holes in the center, were then stacked onto a square metal rod. The combination of a square rod threaded through the coins' square holes locked the coins from rotating on the rod and thereby made it easier for the worker to file off the sprue and excess metal on the edges of the coins. Estimate $8,000-10,000

Lot 896 BRITISH INDIA: Victoria, Queen, 1837-1876, 8-coin proof set, 1862, Bombay mint restrike proof set includes bronze 1/12 anna, ½ pice, ¼ anna, ½ anna, and silver 2 annas, ¼ rupee, ½ rupee and rupee, a lovely well-matched set all housed in a custom made Capitol Plastics holder, a rarely encountered set! set of 8 coins. Estimate $7,500-10,000

Lot 803 DUNGARPUR: Lakshman Singh, 1918-1948, AV nazarana mohur, VS2000 (1943), KM-2, Fr-1111, milled issue, Nagari legend san 2000 vs, katar at center with a leaved branch in the bottom within a double-linear denticled border // Nagari legend rajya dungarpur in two lines within a double-linear denticled border, a lustrous mint state example! PCGS graded MS62. All known examples appear to be struck from the same obverse and reverse pair of dies. Estimate $4,000-5,000

Lot 1502 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS: Edward VII, 1901-1910, AR dollar, 1904-B, KM-25, Dav-303, a wonderful quality example! NGC graded MS64. Estimate $4,000-5,000

Lot 1374 SUMATRA: AE 2 kepings, 1787, KM-Pn4, Prid-28, pattern type, obverse small letters, large date, East India Company issue struck at the Soho Mint, Birmingham, England, NGC graded EF45 BN, RRRR. Issue of the Bencoolen Residency, which was under the Bengal Presidency from 1785-1824. Estimate $3,000-5,000

Lot 1407 IRAQ: Ghazi I, 1933-1939, AR 50 fils, 1937/AH1356, KM-104, a superb quality proof example! PCGS graded Proof 65. Estimate $3,000-4,000

Lot 1778 UNITED STATES: Draped Bust dollar, 1803, KM-32, Bolender-6a, NGC graded VF30, some luster in protected areas, fine die crack connects all stars on right, reverse rotated about 20 degrees counterclockwise, R4 (Bolender). Mintages were relatively small for Bust dollars in the years 1801-1803. Because of this, only two reverse dies were used for all Bust dollars during these years! Estimate $2,400-3,000

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