Tibet (1910) sho
This specimen was lot 1232 in Stephen Album sale 39 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $7,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "TIBET: Hsuan Tung, 1909-1911, AR sho, ND (1910), dragon at center, surrounded by a string of pearls, with Tibetan inscription shon thong bod kyi rin khor khu phon zho gang (Xuan Tong, precious coin of one sho, [struck] to the Kuping standard) // five-petaled lotus design at center, surrounded by a string of pearls, with Chinese inscription xuan tong bao zang, a superbly struck example! PCGS graded AU55, ex Don Erickson Collection." Tibetan currency was a mixture of Chinese, Nepalese and India units complicated by frequent debasements. One srang = 6-2/3 tangka = 10 sho. This type was struck one year only just before the collapse of the empire. This example sold for fourteen times the catalog value.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.3-4.1 g, silver, 22 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Y-5, L&M-654.
- 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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