Laos 1975 5000 kip KM-16

Stack's Bowers November 2022 Collectors Choice sale, lot 75361

This specimen was lot 75361 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $384. The catalog description^[1] noted, "LAOS. 5000 Kip, 1975. Savang Vatthana. NGC PROOF-70 Ultra Cameo. Laotian Maiden issue. A truly flawless coin with mark free fields and a great strike." Varieties exist in the fineness counterstamped in the reverse. Another 5,000 kip issued in 1975 honored the Wat Phra Kio Museum in Vientiane. In 1975, the communists took over and the monarchy collapsed; we don't know if any of these coins made it to Laos.

Recorded mintage: 400 plus 775 proofs.

Specification: 11.70 g, 0.925 fine silver.

Catalog reference: KM 16.1.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.

Link to:

• 1971 40,000 kip
• 1975 5,000 kip, Wat Phra Kio museum
• 1975 10,000 kip, Wat Xieng-Thong temple
• 1980 10 att
• Coins and currency dated 1975