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| Champion 2020 Macau Auction |
Champion 2020 Macau Auction, held on November 29, was a great success. The auction sold 191 out of 209 lots for a 91.39% success rate, realizing USD 2,162,617.50 (including the buyer’s commission). The three highest prices at the auction were LOT 021 - 1897 Heaton Hunan 50 Cent Silver Pattern (USD 540,000), LOT 025 – 1911 (Year 3) Long Whisker Dragon Dollar Silver (USD 312,000) and LOT 026 - 1911 Year Standing Dragon 50 Cent Silver (USD 132,000).
Again, the coins from the Howard Bowker Collection with original envelope toning set many new records and attracted many bidders to Macau. We had a record number of phone and Liveauctioneers bidders at this auction.
The perfect weather and hospitality of the Macau Numismatic Society headed by David Chio (趙康池) and C.S. Wong (黃志成) helped make everyone welcome, and we think everyone enjoyed their stay in Macau.
Lot 019
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| KOREA 1916 Bank of Chosen 50 Sen Block 2, Pick 22, PMG AU53 NET, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 100 Realized Price: USD 1,187.5 |
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| (1)KOREA 1916 Bank of Chosen 20 Sen, Block 4, Pick 21, PMG Choice VF35; (2)KOREA 1919 Bank of Chosen 10 Sen, Block 4-7 Character Imprint, Pick 23a, PMG EF40 NET. Total 2 Pieces, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 100 Realized Price: USD 2,500 |
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Lot 021
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| CHINA-HUNAN 1897 50 Cents Silver, PCGS SP66+, Finest Known example and only 2 graded by PCGS, Chinese Family Collection Starting Price: USD 230,000 Realized Price: USD 540,000 |
LOT 021 spirited bidding between three Taiwan natives and two mainland bidders. Two of the bidders had already previously purchased this rare pattern from Champion. Two of the Taiwan bidders were in Taiwan and one overseas. One bidder bid on the Liveauctioneers platform, one by mail bid and third by phone, and this coin went to the Taiwan phone bidder at USD 540,000, setting a new world record for a Chinese half dollar. This 50 cent coin was the top price realized at the 1991 Goodman Auction.
Now four out of six known examples of the Heaton Mint Hunan 50 cent coins are owned by Taiwan natives, and all three graded by PCGS or NGC have been auctioned or sold by Champion Auction, with a PCGS SP63 coin from the same famous Chinese Family Collection auctioned by Champion in 2008 for USD 92,000 and an NGC SP66 coin sold privately to a Taiwan collector in 2014 who also purchased the dollar from Champion. This time, Champion Auction auctioned the second example from the Chinese Family Collection and the finest known example of PCGS SP66+ to a Taiwan collector.
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| CHINA-EMPIRE 1907 50 Cents Silver Pattern NGC MS65, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 5,000 Realized Price: USD 57,200 |
LOT 024 was a 1907 50 cent coin from the Howard Bowker Collection, NGC MS65. It generated spirited bidding with a floor bidder from northern China and an overseas bidder, with the northern China bidder winning at USD 57,200, setting a new record for this coin graded by NGC.
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| CHINA - EMPIRE 1911 Year 3 Long Whisker Dollar Silver Pattern NGC MS64, Bowker Collection Starting Price: USD 30,000 Realized Price: USD 312,000 |
LOT 025 was a 1911 Long Whisker Dollar from the Bowker Collection, NGC MS64. This finest known example of this rare pattern aroused lively bidding by a Shanghai bidder on the floor and by a phone bidder from northern China. This lot started at an estimated USD 30,000 and realized USD 312,000, with the Shanghai bidder winning and setting a new auction record for this coin.
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| CHINA – EMPIRE 1911 Year 3 Standing Dragon 50 Cent Silver Pattern NGC MS62, Bowker Collection, Raised Flame Starting Price: USD 10,000 Realized Price: USD 132,000 |
LOT 026 was an extremely rare 1911 50 cent pattern from the Howard Bowker Collection. It realized USD 132,000 to an overseas buyer who was the underbidder for the Hunan 50 cent pattern of the Heaton Mint. This NGC MS62 coin set a new record for the coin in NGC MS62 grade.
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| CHINA – EMPIRE One Dollar Silver NGC MS64, Bowker Collection Starting Price: USD 10,000 Realized Price: USD 105,600 |
LOT 028 was also a Howard Bowker coin. Two phone bidders and a floor bidder underwent energetic bidding, with the northern China bidder winning at USD 105,600, setting a new record for an NGC MS64 coin.
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| CHINA-REPUBLIC 1919 Goat Medal Silver Diameter: 27mm, Weight: 16.9g, Width: 2.2mm NGC MS64, Chinese Family Collection Starting Price: USD 1,000 Realized Price: USD 36,000 |
LOT 029 was a 1919 Year of Five Goat medal struck at the Tientsin Mint from the Chinese Family Collection, and it realized a record USD 36,000 to a Macau floor buyer who beat out nine phone bidders to win this lot. Previously a similar example was sold for USD 3,250 at the 2015 Steven Album Auction that Champion purchased for a client.
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| CHINA-REPUBLIC 1927 Sun Yat Sen One Yuan Copper NGC MS61 BN, NC Collection Starting Price: USD 6,000 Realized Price: USD 31,200 |
LOT 032 was a rare 1927 copper pattern from the famous NC collection, and it was sold for USD 31,200 to an overseas phone bidder.
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| CHINA-CHIHLI 1896 10 Cents Silver NGC AU55, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 1,000 Realized Price: USD 11,875 |
LOT 049 was a 1896 10 cent coin from the Howard Bowker Collection, NGC AU55, setting a new record of USD 11,875 for this coin after selling to a Singapore Liveauctioneers bidder.
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| CHINA – HEILONGJIANG Otto Beh 50 Cent Brass Pattern NGC AU55, Otto Beh Mint Pattern Starting Price: USD 20 000 Realized Price: USD 67,500 |
LOT 065, a German Otto Beh Heilongjiang 50 Cent Pattern, was sold on the Liveauctioneers platform to an overseas buyer over another overseas phone bidder for USD 67,500, setting a new record for this NGC AU55 pattern.
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| CHINA-HUPEH 1904 One Tael Silver Small Characters, NGC AU53, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 5,000 Realized Price: USD 62,400 |
LOT 078 was a superb NGC AU53 1904 Hunan Tael with a starting price of USD 5,000, with many phone bidders and Liveauctioneers bidders bidding on this lot. This coin realized USD 62,400 to a Shanghai floor bidder, setting a new record for an NGC AU53 coin.
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| CHINA-HUPEH 1920 20 Cents Silver NGC MS61, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: 3,000 Realized Price: 36,000 |
LOT 080 was one of the most popular lots with many floor, phone, and Liveauctioneers bidders. A bidder from Sichuan won this lot, setting a new record for an NGC MS61.
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| CHINA-KIRIN 1882 One Tael Silver, Fantasy NGC MS63, Ex.Kann - Bowker Collection Starting Price: USD 1,500 Realized Price: USD 19,200 |
With over ten phone and Liveauctioneers bidders on this superb fantasy coin, it finally went to a northern China bidder, setting a new record for an NGC MS63.
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| CHINA – MANCHURIAN 1907 Dollar Silver NGC AU58, NC Collection Starting Price: USD 38 000 Realized Price: USD 67,200 |
LOT 124 went to a northern China phone bidder, outbidding an overseas bidder on this nice example of 1907 Manchurian dollar.
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| CHINA-PEKING 1900 20 Cents Silver Pattern, Original Strike NGC MS60, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 20,000 Realized Price: USD 62,400 |
There was spirited bidding between a northern China phone bidder and a Shanghai floor bidder, with the Shanghai floor bidder winning at USD 62,400. An overseas phone bidder could not bid on this lot as the auction time passed midnight local time and missed out on this extremely rare coin.
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| CHINA-SINKIANG 1912 Unification Society Silver Medal with Lion and Flags Patterns NGC MEDAL AU55, NC Collection Starting Price: USD 8,000 Realized Price: USD 21,600 |
LOT 140 was an extremely rare 1912 Sinkiang medal from the NC Collection, and it was sold for USD 21,600 to a phone bidder, setting a new record for this NGC AU55. One previously was sold at the 2015 Champion Auction for USD 12,000.
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| CHINA – TAIWAN 1852 Old Man Dollar Silver NGC AU55, Bowker Collection Starting Price: USD 10 000 Realized Price: USD 91,200 |
LOT 151 was a Taiwan old man dollar from the Howard Bowker Collection, NGC AU55. This finest known example of NGC AU55 set a new record of USD 91,200 after spirited bidding between a Hong Kong phone bidder and a Macau floor bidder. The previous record for an old man dollar was USD 72,000 set in 2019.
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| CHINA-TAIWAN ND(1853) LOTUS MILITARY RATION Silver NGC AU DETAILS, Chopmarked Coin, NC Collection Starting Price: USD 20,000 Realized Price: USD 40,800 |
The bidding was between an overseas bidder and a Hong Kong phone bidder, with the Hong Kong phone bidder winning at USD 40,800.
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| CHINA-TIBET SKAR 1910 Hsuan Tung Treasure Coin NGC MS64 RB, H.F. Bowker East Asia Collection Starting Price: USD 300 Realized Price: USD 10,800 |
LOT 163 was a superb 1910 Tibet coin, with many bidders from overseas bidding by phone and the Liveauctioners platform. It realized ten times the starting price at USD 10,800 to a floor bidder from Suzhou.
In addition to the auction, Champion Auction held and participated in many other events.
On the evening of November 26, the Macau Numismatic Society held the opening ceremony of the 2020 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Expo at the Kam Pek Community Centre. Michael Chou, the President of Champion Auction, attended the ceremony as the advisor of the society.
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| The opening ceremony of the 2020 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Expo on November 26 |
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| 2020 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Expo Gilt 2 Ounce Commemorative Panda Medal Sample |
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| Michael Chou and David Chio reveal the plaster of the 2020 Macau Numismatic Society Annual Expo Commemorative Panda Medal at the opening ceremony |
On the afternoon of November 28, Yuan Shuiqing (袁水清), the Chinese editor of the Journal of East Asian Numismatics (JEAN), was invited to attend the expo and delivered a speech about Chinese commemorative notes. He explained the background and issuance of some 20 commemorative notes in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. His article the Review on Chinese Commemorative Notes (《大中華紀念鈔概覽》) also won the second prize of the third Great Bay Area Numismatic Competition.
On the same day, Champion Auction held a reception lunch at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16. Before the lunch, Michael Chou released the premilitary survey result of the third edition of Top Chinese Coins (《中國近代機製幣精品鑒賞》), and Mateo Zhao (趙振陽), the Asian Business Expansion Director of NGC, introduced NGC and the Bowker Collection. In the evening, Champion Auction offered a cruise dinner and held a prize draw.
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Yuan Shuiqing delivers the speech |
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| Michael Chou releases the premilitary survey result of the third edition of Top Chinese Coins | Mateo Zhao of NGC introduces NGC and Bowker Collection |
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| Cruise dinner on November 28 |