Chinese Soviet silver dollar in Hong Kong auction

A Soviet China silver dollar issued circa 1934 realized $19,200, including the 18 percent buyer’s fee, at a Dec. 7 and 8 Heritage auction in Hong Kong.

Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

The sphere of Soviet influence reached across all hemispheres, but in Asia that influence was initially located in China.

Communist forces were in China as early as 1927, with the first Soviet Chinese coinage issued around 1930, give or take a year, according to Eduard Kann, writing in Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Coins: Gold, Silver, Nickel & Aluminum

That coinage, a silver dollar, is extremely rare, and even subsequent issues are tough to find, especially in high grades. 

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An example of a slightly later issue of a Communist silver dollar, struck circa 1934, was offered in Heritage Auctions’ Dec. 7 and 8 auction in Hong Kong. It realized $19,200, including the 18 percent buyer’s fee, just slightly below the low range of its $20,000 to $30,000 estimate. It is graded Mint State 62 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

The coin was issued in the Soviet-controlled Szechuan-Shensi provinces. 


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This Large Stars variety, identified as Kann 808a, is a “stunning survivor of this elusive and short-lived issue, preserved far better than is typical of the type with eye-appeal surpassing that of the assigned grade,” according to the auction house. 

The coin features the famous hammer-and-sickle symbols on the obverse against a globe, and two stars and Chinese inscriptions on the reverse. 

For full details of the auction, visit the auction house website.


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