Tibet (1904-12) 1/2 rupee KM-Y2
This specimen was lot 1242 in Stephen Album sale 39 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $1,320. The catalog description[1] noted, "TIBET: AR ½ rupee, Chengdu mint, ND (1904-12), Szechuan-Tibet trade issue, portrait of the Chinese emperor Guang Xu derived from British Indian rupee of Queen Victoria // vertical rosette at center, Chinese inscription, si chuan sheng zao ("made in Sichuan"), branches with cusps and flowers around, a feature also derived from the reverse of British Indian rupees, cleaned, PCGS graded AU details." These rupees are very common but the surge in prices of Chinese coins has made these expensive. Tibet, now a (reluctant) part of China, had secured a de facto independence from China as the Manchu Empire decayed in the late nineteenth century. Tibetan currency was a mixture of Chinese, Nepalese and India units complicated by frequent debasements.
Recorded mintage: 130,000.
Specification: 5.6 g, silver, 0.880 to 0.935 fine, 24 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Y-2, L&M-361.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Lin Gwo Ming, Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Gold & Silver Coins: Ching and Republican Issues, Seventh Edition, Hong Kong: Ma Tak Wo Numismatic Co., Ltd., 2012.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 39, featuring the John Sylvester, Jr., Collection of Annamese Medals and Orders, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
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