Congrats to Don and the rest of the PCGS board. Definitely a cause for celebration
Interesting distinctions between this unique example and its cousins:
<< <i>those [1911] coins have a raised "Ki" … and the dragon's tail … points toward the left. The 1910 coin was struck at the Hsusen Tung branch mint with an incuse "Ki" and the tail pointing to the right. >>
It seems to me, that "unique" coins (or patterns, trials, etc) are often distinguished by much smaller degree. Such as an extra tail feather or an extra die mark, or more/less relief, or even the easiest variation - the metal type itself!
But this is a completely different die!?
The mirror-image aspect reminds me of a recent post by Brg5658 here in this thread (scroll until you see his third post, with African pairs from Togo; you'll know it when you see it).
Very nice, indeed! I find Qing coins, especially from this period, to be completely fascinating.
[pedantry] The "ki" (Ji) 吉 here is the mintmark, an abbreviation of Jilin (Kirin) 吉林, which itself is a Chinese phonetic rendering of the Manchu "girin." The Chinese characters here are used only for their phonetic, not semantic value. Thus, "ki" doesn't mean "lucky" in this context. It's like a "D" for Denver on US coins. [/pedantry]
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Interesting distinctions between this unique example and its cousins:
<< <i>those [1911] coins have a raised "Ki" … and the dragon's tail … points toward the left. The 1910 coin was struck at the Hsusen Tung branch mint with an incuse "Ki" and the tail pointing to the right. >>
It seems to me, that "unique" coins (or patterns, trials, etc) are often distinguished by much smaller degree. Such as an extra tail feather or an extra die mark, or more/less relief, or even the easiest variation - the metal type itself!
But this is a completely different die!?
The mirror-image aspect reminds me of a recent post by Brg5658 here in this thread (scroll until you see his third post, with African pairs from Togo; you'll know it when you see it).
Amat Colligendo Focum
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Edit to add: I use the phrase "a lot of" in a relative way, of course.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GhRtAce8t7m9k3Ge8
[pedantry] The "ki" (Ji) 吉 here is the mintmark, an abbreviation of Jilin (Kirin) 吉林, which itself is a Chinese phonetic rendering of the Manchu "girin." The Chinese characters here are used only for their phonetic, not semantic value. Thus, "ki" doesn't mean "lucky" in this context. It's like a "D" for Denver on US coins. [/pedantry]