Uganda 1969 500 shillings
This specimen was lot 31195 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $4,080. The catalog description[1] noted, "Uganda: Republic gold Proof "Pope Paul VI Visit" 500 Shillings 1969 PR68 Ultra Cameo NGC. Mintage: 1,680, split between 1969 and 1970. Featuring a pious portrait of Pope Paul VI against a globe containing his previous Papal visits, this Ugandan high-denomination issue exhibits jet-black surfaces with only minute evidence of friction, establishing the piece in the assigned grade. AGW 1.9999 oz. From the Paramount Collection." To honor the first visit of a pope to Africa, the regime issued NCLT's in the denominations of five, ten, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred (shown here) and one thousand shillings. Soon after, Uganda descended into the nightmare of Idi Amin's misrule.
Recorded mintage: 1,680 for 1969-70.
Specification: 69.12 g, 0.900 fine gold, 2 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 16, Fr-2.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, The Paramount Collection World & Ancient Coins: Signature Auction 3096, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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