LONDON.- The Chinese numismatic market showed no signs of decline as Chinese silver coins stole the show at Baldwin’s 56th Hong Kong Coin Auction on Thursday 2nd April. Fierce bidding drove prices up to ten times higher than estimate for coins from the highly publicised collection of Swedish numismatist Åke Lindén, pushing the overall auction total to US$3,200,000.

Seth Freeman, Director of A. H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd said: “We are naturally extremely pleased, but not surprised by, the results from today’s auction. Our sale of the Russian coins from the Lindén collection sold in excess of US$1,000,000 in New York earlier this year, and we are delighted to have exceeded that here with the total for the Chinese coins reaching US$2,124,000 “

From the Kirin province in Northeast China a Silver Mace and a Silver 7-Mace exceeded all pre-sale expectations, selling for US$224,200 and US$236,000 respectively. Both exceedingly rare coins were from the Åke Lindén collection, and were struck in 1884 (Year 10) under the rule of Emperor Kuang Hsu. Hard to find in such near uncirculated condition and not seen on the market for a generation the coins sold to two Chinese bidders in a packed auction room. [Lots 400 and 402]

Also from the Lindén collection of Chinese coins, a Kwangtung Province Silver Dollar of 1890, in a PGCS holder graded MS61, sold for US$125,000, against a pre-sale estimate of US$10,000 – 12,000, [Lot 441] and a 1911 (Year 3) 50-Cents sold for US$110,000, against an estimate of US$10,000 – 15,000. [Lot 276]

A very rare Chihli Provence 1907 (Year 33) Silver Pattern Tael came with an exceptional provenance. Not only as a former coin from the collection of Åke Lindén, but also being formerly in the Dr. Norman Jacobs Collection, sold by Baldwin’s in their Hong Kong Coin Auction 44 in August 2008. A famous collector of Asian coins, Dr. Jacobs brought the coinage to the attention of a Western audience when he wrote the first English language book on Japanese coins with fellow collector Cornelius Vermeule in 1953. His numismatic reputation has left an important mark on the world of Asian numismatics and it was no surprise that this coin sold for US$130,000. [Lot 309]

The 936 lot sale contained a number of good quality rarities in both the banknote and the coin selections, with a number of notable lots from other properties achieving fantastic prices. From the banknote section an extremely well preserved 1904 Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation $5 [repeats] sold for US$20,000. [Lot 127] A very fine and beautifully preserved example of the famous Kweichow Province Silver “Bamboo” Dollar from 1949 (Year 38) also sold well at US$20,000, against an estimate of US$2,500 – 3,000. [Lot 452]

The sale was jointly conducted by Baldwin’s and Ma Tak Wo Numismatic Co Ltd of Hong Kong at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Kowloon and the catalogue and full results from the auction can be found online at www.baldwin.co.uk. Baldwin’s sale of the Åke Lindén collection continues throughout 2014 with European and Indian coins being sold in London on the 7th and 8th May respectively. Further Chinese coins will be offered at the same venue in Baldwin’s Hong Kong Coin Auction 57 on Thursday 21st August, and Japanese, Korean and other World coins will be offered in London in September.