Peh Family Collection Takes Center Stage at Heritage’s HKINF World & Ancient Coins Auction June 18-20
Qing Dynasty treasures also among event highlights.
DALLAS, Texas (June 4, 2025) — One of the world’s finest collections of coins from around the globe will make its long-awaited appearance at the auction block when a selection of lots from the Peh Family Collection are sold in Heritage’s HKINF World Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction June 18-20.
“It’s one of the highest honors of my numismatic career to be able to present at auction amazing coins from the Peh Family Collection at our upcoming HKINF event,” says Cris Bierrenbach, Vice President of International Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “It is particularly joyful for me to revisit incredible specimens contained in the collection such as the Japanese ultra rarities pedigreed to the Dr. Norman Jacobs Collection that we brought to market in 2012. The Meiji 3 1870 Pattern Yen is one of my all-time favorite numismatic items — it checks all the boxes for one of the most iconic trophy coins in the world!”
Also among the top selections from the Peh Family Collection is a Kuang-hsü silver Restrike Specimen Pattern Tael CD 1906 SP66 PCGS that is the highest-graded representative across major certification companies for both the original and restrike varieties and is widely recognized as a cardinal rarity among the Chinese series. These beautiful Taels were intended to replace the existing Mace-Candareens coinage in circulation with a new standard, divided between the Tael, 5 Mace, 2 Mace, and Mace. Struck just six years after the re-establishment of the Tientsin mint, which had been destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the series ultimately failed to be introduced into widespread circulation. However, the design eventually did influence the standard layout of the Imperial issues adopted after 1908.
Also from the Peh Family Collection comes a Hsüan-t’ung silver Restrike Specimen Pattern “Long-Whiskered Dragon” Dollar Year 3 (1911) SP63+ NGCthat is a magnificent example of one of the most celebrated Patterns from the twilight of the Qing Dynasty, widely regarded as iconic expressions of the artistic peak of late Imperial China. It is an excellent example of the skill of Luigi Giorgi, the master engraver at the Central Mint, whose signature alone generates considerable interest among collectors, regardless of the issue.
One of the exceptional Japanese coins from the Peh Family Collection, a Meiji silver Proof Pattern Yen Year 3 (1870) PR64 NGC, is an exceedingly rare Pattern for the first machine-struck silver Yen, minted shortly after the newly restored Meiji government established an official silver standard in 1870 as part of the adoption of round and decimalized coinage. Of the few known examples that remain, this example carries the second-highest certified grade after two NGC-certified PR65s.
The auction is brimming with 276 magnificent offerings from the Peh Family Collection, but it would be shortsighted to suggest all of the event’s highlights were sourced from that collection.
Also among the top attractions in the auction is a Hsüan-t’ung Pattern Dollar ND (1910) MS63 NGC, a beauty that features one of the more stylized dragon designs from Hsüan-t’ung’s brief reign. This coin is becoming increasingly more elusive to collectors, especially in finer designations.
Among the coins that often enjoy great popularity among collectors are Engraved Master coins, also known as Diaomu or Ancestor coins, like the Qing Dynasty. De Zong Engraved Master Cash ND (1887-1898) Certified 90 by Gong Bo Grading that will be in play in this auction. The world-class collection of Chinese Cash issues is a gorgeous example of the Diaomu that are exceedingly difficult to locate and are identified as the beginning of the Cash coinage process, the “seeds for minting regular currency.” This trophy coin is one of the few gathered by the W&L collector and is now back in the market after more than 30 years. Prototypes for Master coins like the one offered in this auction were carved by hand before being presented to the Emperor for approval before being used as molds for the better-known “Mother coins,” … which in turn were used to make several molds for circulating issues.
Another Engraved Master from the Qing Dynasty that will cross the block in this auction is a Wen Zong (Xian Feng) Engraved Master 500 Cash ND (March-August 1854), Certified 85 by Gong Bo Grading. Diaomu are unquestionably scarce, but to find such a large denomination of these hand-engraved Pattern-like pieces is even more rare. Heritage experts have not found a record of a single 500 Cash Diaomu in recent decades, elevating this example to trophy status.
Produced in commemoration of Tuan Chi-jui’s taking office as the provisional Chief Executive of the Republic of China at the outset of the “Peaceful Unification” and the abolition of the presidency, a Republic Tuan Chi-jui gold Specimen Pattern Dollar ND (1924) SP61 PCGS is exceedingly popular among collectors. It especially has gold examples that are significantly rarer than their silver counterparts and only make it to the collecting market every few years — the example offered here is the first since 2020.
A Hunan. Republic Dollar Year 11 (1922) MS65+ PCGS is a magnificent example of an elusive “souvenir” type from the Changsha mint that was struck to commemorate the promulgation of the Hunan Provincial Constitution.
Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found at HA.com/3124.
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