拍品描述： 上海县足纹银饼壹两经正记 NGC AU-Details

Lot 854 CHINA: Hsien Feng， 1851-1861， AR liang 40tael41， Shanghai， year 6 40185641。 Kann-903。 LM-590。 Issued by the firm of Ching Cheng Chee and engraved by Feng Nien， legend translates as: cake 40of41 standard silver 40 from the41 business firm 40 of41 Ching Cheng Chee 40 in the 41 Shanghai district 40in the41 6th year 40of Emperor41 Hsien Feng 40185641 made 40by41 Feng Nien， silversmith 40and41 supervised 40by41 Chow Yuen Yu。 Exact weight one Tsaoping Tael， some surface scratches， NGC graded About Unc details， RRR， ex Hans Mondorf Collection。A similar example sold in Heritage World Coin Auctions Hong Kong Signature Sale 3050 Lot 37092 on 8 December 2016 for $19000.


Mondorf´s interest in coins dates back to his childhood. After collecting modern coins until 1966, he became interested in Indian coins, especially Mughal coins, which were often cheaper at that time than the special 5 DM coins of Germany.

He built up a collection by buying from dealers such as Ulrike Müller and soon from Seaby´s, Spink, Scott Semans and Steve Album. However, most of his coins were acquired in the respective countries. During his posting to Pakistan, had a good opportunity to continue with his hobby. Local numismatists and dealers such as Mobin Ahmed, Shafqat Mirza and Khushal Khan Khattak in Peshawar were of assistance.

In those days there were a large number of coins from Afghanistan (Bactrian to modern), Iranian and later Xinjiang coins on the market because China had opened the land border on the Karakorum Highway in 1983 for Haj pilgrims from Xinjiang, Gansu and other provinces. The greatest attraction for Mondorf were the Kushan coins from Pakistan; in his opinion some of the most beautiful coins ever minted, being an amalgam of West and East Roman , Greek and Indian. A great part of these coins are in this auction.

In 1976 Mondorf also became interested in early Burmese coins and those of Arakan. During regular trips (more than 30 over the years) he built up one of the most comprehensive collections of ancient Burma and Arakan which is now also for sale in this auction. Since his Pakistan days Mondorf had also been interested in Central Asian coins. He was and still is a great admirer and fan of the Silk Road. The great opportunity to collect these coins arose with the independence of the Central Asian republics after 1990.

Despite being posted to Bonn after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mondorf had the chance to travel there in 1991 and 1992. That is how he established contact with Edward Rtveladse in Tashkent who provided him with an abundance of numismatic and archaeological literature. Mondorf continued with Central Asian coins during his time as Ambassador in Turkmenistan from 2003-2008. He met the great numismatist A. Kamyshev from Bishkek and was introduced to Vladimir Belyaev from zeno.ru through his friend Cao (Beijing). Since both of his children are not interested in the collection Mondorf decided to sell the majority of his coins.