Szechuan. Empress Dowager Ci Xi gold Fantasy Dollar ND UNC Details (Cleaned) PCGS, KM-X429 var. (there, in silver), Kann-B27 var. (same), WS-1349-47 var. (same), Wenchao-1328 var. (same), SHI-73 var. (same). Imitated by Tan Zi-Jun (Chengdu). Quite simply, the ideal canvas for the artistically vibrant Fantasy coinage minted with the likeness of Empress Dowager Ci Xi (Tzu Hsi), and an utterly exceptional find both in this metal and broad format. Likely more familiar to collectors of the series from the smaller 5 Dollars (cf. Kann-B90), or as a type minted in silver (cf. Kann-B27), it is incredibly rare to find the issue struck in gold. Not recorded as such in any of the references we have consulted, the sole other reference we have been able to locate is a possibly similar piece was in the Farouk Collection (Sotheby's February 1954, Lot 1350), described as a "pattern fifty dollars...minted at Cheng-Too [Chengdu]," though unfortunately not illustrated; indeed, no specimen was present among the holdings of Goodman or Pinnacle. While this type has commonly been ascribed to Szechuan-Tibet on account of its reverse design--which closely mirrors the Rupees of that series--it is curious to wonder if this is a case of shared reverse dies within the same workshop, much as can be observed within the 5 Dollars series. Yet while certain artistic choices in the depiction of Ci Xi show definite stylistic similarities, we can find no alternative reverse that has also been paired with this obverse (though a corresponding issue of Kuang-hsü or Zai Feng does exist, cf. Wenchao-1326), A Selection of Chinese Modern/Contemporary Counterfeits and Fantasy Coins further recording that the equivalent type in silver was produced by a smith in Chengdu. Undeniably the finest of the known die styles for these Fantasy Dollars, and a coin whose absolute rarity far outstrips its conditional qualifiers. From the Tony Ma Collection

HID09801242017

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