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Auction: 12025 - Ancient, British & Foreign Coins and Com
Lot: 271

Hong Kong, George VI (1936-52), Cent, 1941, crowned head left, rev. value (KM.17), typical ´sea salvage´ surfaces, otherwise very fine, very rare Estimate £ 500-600 The Royal Mint struck 5,000,000 Hong Kong 1941 Cents and these were dispatched by sea in several shipments. One shipment arrived in South Africa where it was unloaded and returned to the Royal Mint for melting. Of the remaining shipments, none reached Hong Kong, which was surrendered to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941. The coins were either lost when the ships were sunk by enemy action, or were captured by the Japanese and melted. The few uncirculated coins that survive (estimated at less than 100) all come from Japanese sources. Others, such as the coin offered here, show clear evidence of sea salvage. The 1941 Cent remains one of the great rarities of the Hong Kong series.

Sold for
£1,200