PMG-graded Southeast Asian Banknotes Highlight Spink Auction

A rare banknote from Southeast Asia certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) is the top lot in a Spink auction. Bidding is already underway for the sale, which will be held on January 30, 2021.

Sarawak 5 Dollars Unissued Specimen graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated. Click images to enlarge.

The Sarawak 5 Dollars Unissued Specimen graded PMG 58 Choice About UNC was created near the end of World War II in preparation for liberating Sarawak (today part of Malaysia) from Japanese occupation. The note shows Charles Vyner Brooke, the last White Rajah from the British family that ruled Sarawak for over a century until 1946, when Brooke ceded the region to Great Britain.

The note has an estimate of HK$580,000 to HK$950,000 (about $75,000 USD to $123,000 USD).

Meanwhile, the French Indo-China, Banque de I’Indo-Chine 1876-96 5 Piastres graded PMG graded 35 Choice Very Fine has an estimate of HK$580,000 to HK$800,000 (about $75,000 USD to $103,000 USD). The currency was used in French Indochina, modern-day Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Other PMG-certified highlights include:

• a Straits Settlements 1880 25 Dollars graded PMG 15 Choice Fine NET with an estimate of HK$330,000 to HK$450,000 (about $43,000 to $58,000 USD)
• a Straits Settlements 1895-1908 10 Dollars-Singapore graded PMG 12 Fine NET with an estimate of HK$280,000 to HK$350,000 (about $36,000 to $45,000 USD)
• a Straits Settlements / British Administration 1925-27 $100 Dollars graded PMG 25 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$170,000 to HK$250,000 (about $22,000 to $32,000 USD)
• a Straits Settlements / British Administration 1925 50 Dollars graded PMG 30 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$145,000 to $HK200,000 (about $18,000 to $26,000 USD)
• a Straits Settlements / British Administration 1898-1911 10 Dollars graded PMG 25 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$80,000 to HK$100,000 (about $10,000 to $13,000 USD)
• a Straits Settlements / British Administration 1914-24 10 Dollars graded PMG 30 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$55,000 to HK$75,000 (about $7,100 to $9,700 USD)
• a Straits Settlements / British Administration 1901-24 5 Dollars graded PMG 25 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$45,000 to HK$60,000 (about $5,800 to $7,700 USD)
• a French Indo-China Banque de I’Indo-Chine 1911-19 100 Piastres graded PMG 30 Very Fine with an estimate of HK$40,000 to HK$70,000 (about $5,100 to $9,000 USD)

To view all the lots in the auction, click here. Collectors who wish to view relevant Pridmore catalogue pages and rotational images of the auction's coins may click here.