CHINA-HEILUNGKIANG 1896 50 Cents Brass, Otto Beh Mint Pattern, 83%Cu 17%Zn <1%sSn(13.4g), L&M586, NGC AU55

About HEILUNGKIANG 1896 50 Cents Brass Otto Beh Mint Pattern

Recent research reveals that the Heilungkiang dies were made using generic punches and hubs in common with the Anhwei, Chekiang, Fengtien and Sinkiang series of dies manufactured by Otto Beh during the period 1897-99. As a total of 260 dies were made, not counting the rejects, the wear and tear on the punches and hubs explains the softness or lack of details on some of the patterns of the above series.

Otto Beh was a specialist in the production of seals and dies. From neighboring Goppingen, Louis Schuler received an order for coining presses in 1895 and commissioned Otto Beh to manufacture the dies. In 1897 and 1898, Beh supplied Schuler with over 200 dies for Chinese coins. At the time, this was the largest order that the company had ever received. Schuler, which started as a Locksmith’s shop in 1839, had grown to become one of the world’s leaders in metal forming and in fact supplied the aforementioned mints with coining presses.

The first piece to be published was a half dollar belonging to Tai Pao-t’ing which appeared in the July 1944 issue of the Shanghai magazine, Ch’uan Pi. The coin was listed by Kalgan Shih in his 1949 Catalog of Chinese Silver and Gold Coins, and by Eduard Kann in his 1953 Catalog of Chinese Silver and Gold Coins, though Kann never owned the coin. The dollar coin was first published in 1981 in H. Chang’s (Chang Huang) book, Silver Dollars and Taels of China. The first Heilungkiang coin seen in a public auction was the dollar struck in brass, which appeared in a Money Company Hong Kong sale in September 1985. That coin had been discovered in Europe by U.S. coin dealer Bill Randel and was published in a World Coin News story in the 9 April 1985 issue. The first half dollar to appear in auction was in a Spink-Taisei sale of February 1988, which also contained a Heilungkiang dollar.

An Otto Beh Sinkiang dollar (VF) sold for USD 206,500 in August 2013 Hong Kong auction.

NGC AU55