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SCMP Reporter

A unique  set of Victorian-era Hong Kong coins has been sold for GBP90,000 (HK$1.4 million) at auction in London.
The five silver coins, which comprised a dollar, half-dollar, 20 cents, 10 cents and 5 cents, make up a proof set.
They were minted in 1868 for collectors and have never been put into circulation.
The GBP90,000 fetched at the open auction in London  was much higher than the auction house's earlier estimate of GBP49,000 to GBP68,000.
'We all knew that there was great interest in the set, and by the time the auction took place, we knew the price would be over the estimate,'  Richard Bishop,  of the auction house Spink, said.
He said there were several bidders   but he would not reveal the identity of the buyer.
The set was originally owned by a Hong Kong family with  several businesses in the city. They had held the coins for more than 100 years.
Coins from the same series were produced for only three years, as the  Hong Kong Mint was shut in 1868. The surviving ones are a mark of the failure by the  colonial government to put  silver coins into use.
A single half-dollar coin that looked the same as the one in the set was sold for US$109,250 in Florida in the 1990s.
Mr Bishop said the auction house always welcomed  Hong Kong coins, but good examples were  rare.



Victorian silver coins strike gold at auction