Chinese rarities in Roxbury’s sale
By Kerry Rodgers As every collector and dealer knows, rarities turn up in the most unexpected places. Down Under in sunny Queensland, Bob Innes of Roxbury’s Auction House was busy…
By Kerry Rodgers
As every collector and dealer knows, rarities turn up in the most unexpected places.
Down Under in sunny Queensland, Bob Innes of Roxbury’s Auction House was busy cataloging his May sale one day in March. A new customer wandered into the shop and proffered Bob some Chinese notes. He asked if Bob might sell them for him.
Rare Chinese notes are not a regular feature of Bob’s normal numismatic diet. However, he accepted them and said he would do the best he could.
Two of their images ended up on my laptop while I was composing a pre-sale review for Australian consumption. A quick check of the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money suggested that, given the present state of the Chinese paper market and concurrent state of the Aussie dollar, some BNR reader might well be interested in seeing what turns up in the South Pacific.
First up was a Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp. $5 specimen drawn on Tientsin and dated Jan. 1, 1920. The face design is that of P-S381. However, in SCWPM that note is dated June 1, 1907 with no other dates given. Bob has graded it UNC and placed an estimate of A$2,800 on it.
The second image is of an unissued and uncompleted form/remainder of an Imperial Chinese Railways $5 dated Jan. 2, 1899 (P-A60, SM S13-2). Along with no signature it carries no serial numbers. It also has been graded UNC and carries an estimate of A$3,900. The 13th edition of SCWPM gives a value for the issued note of US$4,000 in EF.
For those who wish to know more the catalog may be downloaded from Roxbury’s website: www.roxburys.com sometime in mid April. The sale itself is sale scheduled for Friday, May 20 and will start at 12 noon Queensland time. It will run to approximately 9 p.m. Viewing will take place from 8 a.m. until 12 noon.
Any queries can be directed to Bob and Jacquie Innes once the catalog is out. Phone : +617-3831-2599; email: jacquie@roxburys.com.au.
And, in case any reader was wondering, at the time of writing, 1.00USD = 1.32AUD.
This article was originally printed in Bank Note Reporter.
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