Is this gold Hawaii fantasy coin from the Farouk collection or not?
Zoins
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This interesting coin is said to have been made with the original hubs.
Heritage wrote:
Sometime around the turn of the century, an unknown die sinker produced a number of fantasy pieces in various metals patterned after the Hawaiian coinage of 1883. It appears he used the original hubs from 1883 to prepare the dies.Donald Metcalf notes:
The following were not authorized by the Hawaiian Government, nor were they struck in 1883 or 1884: eighth dollar (with 'lazy eights') in copper, nickel, bronze, gold and platinum - 1884 quarter dollar in bronze,oroide, gold and platinum - 1884 half dollar in bronze, gold, copper and platinum.
Of interest, the Heritage lot description first says this coin is "probably" from the King Farouk collection:
Heritage wrote:
This coin is probably one of a set of three gold fantasy pieces that surfaced in the fabulous collection of King Farouk.
Those coins were listed in lot 110 of Sotheby's catalog of his collection:"Kalakua I, half dollar, 1884; quarter dollar, 1884, and eighth dollar, 1883, struck in gold. Excessively rare and in mint state."
But then later it appears to definitively says it's from the Farouk collection:
Heritiage wrote:
Ex: Palace Collections of Egypt (Sotheby's, 2/1954), lot 110.
Here's the full lot description:
How is this supposed to be read? Should Farouk be listed as the provenance for this piece?
Comments
@Zoins
This is a fascinating restrike in gold, and will appeal to a wide range of collectors. It will be interesting to see the final price.
How does one procure original hubs?
Very incomplete description of the source of the coins but fascinating.
Agree! Part of the fascination of these old pieces is that the origins are unknown. They just show up one day in a collection.