Thanks Comeaux. No way I am master in any coin. I am just a keen watcher here. Sorry I don't see any pictures here. Care to show me the link? Anyway Imperial coins refer to coin circulated after Qin Shi Huang (260 BC 210 BC) unified China to 1911. But really the only few coins I know a little bit are those from late Qing dynasty. Republic of China were formally established on 1-JAN-1912, hence we refer to coin circulated during 1912 to 1949 as Republic coins with the 1949 Sinkiang dollar being the last coin minted. People Republic of China were established on 1-OCT-1949.
Hey Low I'm surprised you cannot see the pictures of coins in the Stacks Bowers post I made about 10 posts up. It's the same image hosting site that I always use hmmm don't know. Maybe there is an "electrical short" between the keyboard and your seat Thanks for that very interesting information on differentiating Imperial coins from Republic coins. One question I have is how do you know what the dates are on these types of Chinese coins? I see many of these coins with no apparent dates unless the dates are written in Chinese or maybe is it that experienced collectors discern various dates by visual differences of each coin? In the future I will probably start looking into collecting some of these Imperial & Republic coins but I will have to do a lot of research before that. I'm still a zygote in the early stages of development regarding old Chinese coins. I bought a few fakes just to see what they look and feel like, they are really cool. They must be made of nickel because they look like silver, are not magnetic and are really heavy. There is one with the car that is supposed to be very rare (if it would be authentic) and others with the "yin yang" symbol and dragons with Chinese writing but no dates. To get back to the Stacks Bowers auction, I'm sure most of you are all looking at these "estimates" and thinking "wow these are some great prices", yea I thought the same thing as well but as mentioned in one of my post above, I have seen this in the last few auctions but the ending prices "realized" are typically much higher in most of the items. I did not understand why they do this with "estimates" until one of the knowledgeable posters on CCF conveyed that this is done to "draw interest" If you think about it, it's a great sales tactic ! Everyone thinks they are going to swoop in and score some "e-ticket rides" then run off happily into the sunset with bags of cheap coins worth thousands I don't want to bust your bubble but realistically that's not going to happen. Although damned if I won't be trying like hell !!! I like fishballs approach wait until April 3rd then go nuts !
Hi Comeaux, Now I see the photos. First photos showing 3 catalog. The right hand side is the dragon dollar coin. These coins have been doing very, very well over the past several years. I don't follow much pricing for modern coins, but Stacks Bowers have been doing exceptionally well with old China coins. Some of the prices achieved in last year auction is so hard for me to believe. They seriously outperform Champion auction in certain area of old China coins. There are some very nice coins this time with such insulting low estimate. I am not surprised if some coins sell for 10x or 20x their estimate. That is 1928 Kweichow auto dollar http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/collecting/world coins/Kweichow_china_auto_dollar.htm The date is written in Chinese writings. Republic coins are easy to tell. Imperial coins are difficult for me without the help of "lunar to gregorian" calendar converter. Some dragon coins have no date. You only can tell by the Emperor and the Mint, to determine the range of date it was circulated. For Republic coins, the date doesn't tell a lot of story. It could be minted many years and still the date is showing the first year it was minted. Example is 1927 memento dollar. Republic coins is probably one of the most complicated area in the modern china with lots of different varieties and private issue. A taiwanese collector has found more than 100 varieties on the common Yuan Shi Kai dollar, which is officially minted between 1914 and 1921. Sorry I know this is panda forum. I shall stop here.
Wow Low that is totally awesome info ... you have very good knowledge of these coins ! I'm really starting to like the dragon dollars and other Chinese Coins ! Oh and this forum is much more amiable than most I have participated in, we are speaking about coins that are being auctioned in the Stacks Bowers auction so I'm pretty sure that nobody has a problem with all of the information you are disseminating to us all. For me it's like drinking knowledge from a fire hose !!! It's alot of info Maybe we need a "sub forum" for the other Chinese Coins ... yaaayyy !!! Thanks again !
Hi Comeaux, http://stacksbowers.com/auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=327405 - There also are several MS63-65 in the April Champion auction. This will be good companion to 1990 dragon & phoenix. This coin has appreciated a lot since 2009. An MS63 sold for $160 and MS64 sold for $370 in June 2009 Champion auction.
Hey Fishball and Comeaux, I just wanted to say a big thanks for letting us know about this auction and the catalogs, I just recieved mine these are so cool , maybe I should wait to thank you until after I see how much money I spent.. Actually i am just learning about this stuff so I probably wont bid on to much of it but what a great way to learn about these coins, and maybe I will get lucky with a bid or two. I really like the section with the ingots or "scythee" or whatever they call them those are very interesting , it is all really overwhelming .Really puts my whimpy panda collection I have been putting together to shame, oh well I am always striving for bigger and better. Thanks Again!!
Just as a sidebar to fishball,s notes on the brass bears ,there is a 1983 pf 70! on e bay being auctioned now, bid is at 1275.00 with reserve not met, 3 days left.......... it will be interesting to see where it lands.......... Item number: 270942220851,seller notes only 3 graded pf70 in 1983 none in 84 and 85...........Yennus might be sitting on a goldmine I hope so
So is there a software to install or is it just a web based java/flash type of bidding 'app'? Poked on their website and nothing yet, going to chuck some pre-bids in this week. Also will fool around and listen in on the first auction which consists purely of coins I have no interest in (non MCC !) just to get a feel for the auction lol.
I read the disclosure. If i dont understand bad. We will bid online in they page. Now accepts prebids. And the days of auction will make it coin for coin.
Tomorrow's the big day... (~12 hours to go). The prices are pretty much at least the bottom of what I'd expect so I'm not bidding on too many coins myself (pre-bids only so far). Bargains on the lower end of the spectrum are almost non-existent at this stage, the expensive stuff is still underpriced but I am sure the bidding will heat up on the day. I'm gonna be watching this set and see what it fetches, currently way under market price but still way above my current spending limit . I've been watching the other two auctions (today and yesterday) on their website, pretty intense stuff. Saw some old Chinese 1919 coin (I think) go for $37500 in MS65 grade or was it 63. Bidding was fierce. Definitely worthwhile watching the MCC auction tomorrow, educational and entertaining at the same time. Starts at 12pm (Noon) HK time which is the same time zone as Perth so 2pm in Sydney.
WOW I'm loving the timing !!! Session #4 (MCC"s) is perfect timing for me begins at 11:00 pm my time, the wifey and son will be happily tucked away sleeping so I can bid unhindered by any potential side issues ! Time to get the popcorn ready ! Pre-bid amounts look great on some coins, I have a bunch of pre-bids in and if they hold up (I doubt they will) maybe some nice coins scored cheap ! yippeeee !!!
WOW NGC dominance regarding Modern Chinese Coins continues !!! Out of 687 individual lots (items) listed in session #4 for Modern Chinese Coins only 14 of these are PCGS holdered coins rather paltry existence in my opinion
There were some very amazing results for Imperial and Republic coins. I am very happy. http://stacksbowers.com/(X(1))/Auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=327301 - PCGS MS65 $3585 And someone quickly grabbed this http://search.ebay.com/300690498927 - Very impressive die clash. NGC MS65 - $2500 - What a bargain! Now I can't wait to see how MCC sells.
Looks like they're still going through the world coins auction, MCC might not start till 12:30 or 1pm Sydney time. Random french coins from 1879 going at $5000 in 64 grade
Live video feed is cool ... damn these ladies are taking this serious, not a whole lot of smiling going on ! WTF ???!!! $9500 for that "INDO-CHINA. 20 Centimes Piefort Trial Strike / Pattern struck in copper, 1920. NGC MS-62 BN" WOAAHHH !!!!
