Heritage's world coin auction concluded this weekend with a dog, horse and rooster dominating the action in the auction hall.
Fortunately, this was not due to a gate being left open at a nearby farm, but the irresistible allure of pristine rare gold commemorative coins to the Heritage audience.
To be precise, three coins celebrating the 2002 Year of the Horse, the 2005 Year of the Rooster and the 2006 Year of the Dog went under the hammer. The 10,000 Yuan pieces, of just 15 made, all for export had an extra claim to fame:
They were all number eight of the series - clearly indicated on the coins - making them extra lucky according to Chinese culture (due to 'eight' sounding similar to 'prosper' or even more appropriately 'wealth' in Cantonese).
 Year of the Rooster gold coin |
All of the coins are 100 mm wide and weigh 32.146 oz with eight concave sides and clear relief images. All were issued within a soft plastic package and a hardwood case, and these examples have sensibly been kept within both.
Each of the 2002 and 2005 coins sold for $161,000 in the Boston auction, whilst the Year of the Dog coin achieved $162,626. T
hese results compare well with the $138,000 which another Year of the Horse coin reach in April - although whether this was due to rapidly increasing value or the number eight is uncertain.
Regardless, the collector(s) who bought them will likely have a good investment now wherever they are (the winning bids came over the internet) given the rising value of Chinese collectibles, and of rare gold coins in general.
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