China Sungarei (Sinkiang, Sin-Kiang) 1, 2, 4 Mace and 7 Mace and 2 Candareens (Fakes are possible) 1897

CoinQuest thanks Heritage Coins for the picture of this amazing dollar (7 mace and 2 candareens) from Sungarei (also known as Sunkiang) province in China. It is an exceedingly rare coin and Heritage sold it for $43700 US dollars back in 2000. I'm sure it is worth much more today.

If your coin is genuine, you have a very valuable piece! But if it is fake, you have a conversation piece. More than likely, you have a counterfeit coin. See below.

Rick Ponterio of Stack's Bowers describes these coins as follows:

CHINA. Sungarei (Sinkiang). 1897. Tihwa Mint. L&M-832; Kann-1034; Y-10; Wenchao-pg.241 #313. In 1897, small quantities of dragon series coinage were produced by the mint at Tihwa. A total of four denominations were struck, 1 Mace, 2 Mace, 4 Mace and 7 Mace 2 Candareens. Of these, only the 1 Mace and 2 Mace were released into circulation. This was done in small numbers on a limited basis. Very few examples are known to exist today, when encountered they are normally found in well circulated condition.

According to Rick, it is possible to find genuine 1 and 2 mace SUNGAREI coins. Any 4 or 7 mace coins are 99.9% sure to be counterfeits. The genuine 1 mace shown to the left sold at $12000 US dollars by Baldwins.

So if you have a 1 or 2 mace coin, your first job is to protect your item.

NEVER CLEAN A COIN. CLEANING RUINS VALUE.

The next order of business is to determine its authenticity. The best way to do this is to submit it to PCGS, NGC, ICG, or ANACS (look them up on the Internet) for authentication, grading, and encapsulation. Once authenticated, determining the value involves comparing your coin to known genuine coins that have sold recently at auction. Unless the coin is completely messed up and damaged, it will be worth a lot of money, probably $10000 or more. There are counterfeits and fantasy coins which are worth essentially zero.

The picture below compares Heritage's $40000 coin with an obvious fake. Even 'candareens' is misspelled on the fake.


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