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Spink's Singapore Sale Touts Rarities
 | By Kerry Rodgers, Bank Note Reporter
June 29, 2009 |
Sarawak enthusiasts around the globe will need to ensure they are on excellent terms with their bank mangers come this July 4th. Going on the block at Spink's Singapore sale will be the legendary Sarawak collection of Bill Christensen.
Christensen was a member of the Brooke family, one of whose branches provided the White Rajahs of Sarawak. His own forbears migrated to Maryland in the early 18th century. Throughout his life, Christensen enjoyed a fascination with the activities of his South-East Asian cousins. This included assembling a major collection of their Sarawak paper money.
Sadly, Christensen died this past northern autumn and his remarkable collection is now for sale. All Sarawak are hard to find, particularly in top grade and Christensen's collection contains an almost a complete run of all the available type notes of this popular series in superior condition.
Spink's "Banknotes, Coins and Important Stamps and Covers of South East Asia Including the Bill Christensen Collection of Sarawak Currency" sale also brings a number of other Asian rarities guaranteed to tempt the most jaded of collecting palates. For starters there is a Malaya King George VI, $10,000 specimen in immaculate condition, SCWPM-17. The note shows no printed date but has "27.8.47" hand written at top right of. The Standard Catalog lists 1942 and 1945 dates.
All $10,000 Malaya notes are rare and no prices are given for them in any condition in the Standard Catalog. The note being offered is remarkable in having no scuff marks that commonly mar other known examples of the George IV issue.
Several Penang notes, listed in C.C. Chan's book as the only extant examples known, are up for grabs, as is a beautiful group of Shanghai taels, plus several unique hand-printed essays for Malaya and Ceylon from the estate of a previous chief designer at De La Rue.
Collectors should keep a close eye on www.spink.com to glean full details as soon as they are posted. Online and phone bidding facilities will be available.
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