Tibet (1904-12) 1/4 rupee KM-Y1
This specimen was lot 1241 in Stephen Album sale 39 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $20,400. The catalog description[1] noted, "TIBET: AR ¼ rupee, Chengdu mint, ND (1904-12), Szechuan-Tibet trade issue, portrait of the Chinese emperor Guang Xu derived from the 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, a superb quality example! PCGS graded MS63." These quarter rupees are rather 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: 120,000.
Specification: 2.8 g, 0.935 fine silver, 19 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Y-1, L&M-362.
- 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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