LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 May/June Long Beach CA Sig World Coin #440  / 

51945

Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Company colonial Proo

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 12,500.00 USD
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Company colonial Proo
<B>Sierra Leone Company colonial Proof set 1791</B></I> of 7 coins, one of each type, all carefully graded by PCGS as follows: (1) One Dollar KM-6, 40 struck in silver, PR65, Gem Proof with wonderful surfaces, awesome originality, and gorgeous iridescent golden grayish blue toning; (2) Half Dollar KM-5, 54 struck in silver, PR63, signs of light handling on the surfaces, toning patchy, an irregular silvery brownish gold; (3) Twenty Cents KM-4, 84 struck in silver, PR65, Gem Proof with marvelous reflective surfaces, exquisitely toned in golden blue iridescence, tiny flan crack by rim in exergue, the finest piece this cataloguer (BL) has ever seen; (4) 10 Cents KM-3, 109 struck in silver, PR65, Gem Proof, superb gold iridescence over silvery white mirrors, a fantastic specimen; (5) One Penny KM-2.2 (small flan, 31 mm), mintage unknown, bronzed PR65, Gem Proof, gorgeous dark chocolate brown surfaces with red peeking around some letters of the legend; (6) One Penny KM-2.1 (large flan, 32 mm), mintage unknown, bronzed PR64, good color but minor surface contact marks; (7) One Cent KM-1, 400 struck, bronzed PR65, Gem Proof with luscious mahogany-brown surfaces. These are truly beautiful coins. The cataloguer, personally speaking, would attempt to upgrade two or three of the pieces (those under PR65), so as to have a gem set, but owning the Dollar alone would be worth the price of admission to this lot. The 20c and 10c coins are also worth going after the set for, just to own either one of them. The four silver coins are probably all originals from a single set, even though the 50c has some abrasions (this often occurred, one or two pieces from old sets being less than perfectly handled over the years). All that said, this is still possibly the finest set to be offered at auction in many a year, and is clearly one of the most desirable lots in this auction.<BR><BR>Bordered by Guinea and Liberia on the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone has a fascinating history. Named by Portuguese explorers in the 17th century, the country's name in that language (Serra Lyoa) literally means "lion mountains." European traders stopped regularly along the coast, exchanging cloth and metal goods for ivory, timber, and also for small numbers of enslaved Africans. In the early 17th century, British traders became increasingly active along Sierra Leone's coast. The area was inhabited mainly by various wandering tribes until 1787, when it became a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces, who were eagerly joined by runaway slaves who had previously taken asylum in London but wished to return to their native continent. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), enslaved Africans were promised freedom if they sided with the British, and many took this opportunity. Thus in a sense the early nation was one of true repatriation. In 1787, a group of 400 people, of mixed heritage, sailed from England to Sierra Leone's coast and bought land from local Temne leaders, and established the Province of Freedom, but many of these early arrivals perished from disease. A renewed attempt at settlement was made in 1792. Shortly thereafter, about 1,100 freed slaves came from Nova Scotia in Canada, and this group founded Freetown. They were next joined by about 500 freed blacks from Jamaica in 1800. The new colony at this time was controlled by the Sierra Leone Company of London, a trading concern which issued the coins we see in this lot. In 1807, Great Britain outlawed the trading of enslaved Africans, and early in 1808 the British government took over Freetown from the financially troubled company; the country became a British colony in the same year. It was used as a naval base for fighting trafficking of black slaves as well as for patrolling the coast, rich in minerals and gold. Between 1808 and 1864, some 50,000 liberated Africans settled at Freetown. The country remained under British protection for almost another century, and was a center for spying during World War 2. The people of this land, of such mixed heritage, finally gained independence in 1961, and today its economy centers around diamonds and iron ore taken from its "lion mountains." Civil wars continue to plague Sierra Leone and its neighboring states, yet its people have a proud African heritage founded upon the repatriation of freed slaves. Few colonial coins capture the spirit of the place as well as these specimens do. Importantly, the image of the joined hands on their reverse (which, remember, traces back to 1791) is perhaps the ultimate symbol of man's ability to undo the evil of human slavery. This set is of museum quality, and significance.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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