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Straits Settlements Victoria

1873  Five Cent reverse 1873  Five Cent obverse

1873 Five Cent

Mintage:60,000
Size:15.4mm Weight:1.36g Composition:80% Silver
20% Copper

Values

Sales History

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The Straits Settlements has almost always been a tumultuous collection of British territory. During such a time, a fascinating short run five cent Type 1 series was minted with Queen Victoria that span from 1871 up until 1901 albeit a few years missing ( 1872, 1875, 1892) Although 1873 has one of the lowest mintage (60,000), in the authors opinion this is not the reason why it is a rare date. Several key factors contribute to the rarity of this date:

1) After 1873, mint production was shipped back to Britain. In 1874 coins were produced from Heaton. Because of this, 1873 five cents were exhausted before the new batch of coinage came in for the populace to use and completely depleting previous years five cents.

2) Coinage from the Straits Settlements are infamous for having low survival rates. Because of the continuous change of governing power whether it was by the local settlements, Dutch, British or Japanese, the lack of steady control and the mixture of Chinese, Malay, Indian and European living in the same region further contributed to the problem of managing steady influx of the coins.

3) Panic of 1873 which swept across mostly Europe and North America affected not only unemployment in the Britain but also halted productions of silver and the debasement of it around the world. (Irwin Unger, 1964) Because this coin was produced at the height of the panic, 1873 five cents minted in silver almost automatically became a key date.

4) Straits Settlements is not a single island, rather a collection of territory belonging to Great Britain, which include Malacca, Dinding, Penang and Singapore. With so many area the disbursement of coins was no doubt an endeavor. To be able to shuffle back and forth via water and land stands as a testament that many of the 60,000 was lost through time.

One of the finest 1873 five cents One of the finest 1873 five cents

The 1873 five cent just like other five cents from the issue are typically toned with grayish highlights and splashes of molted coloring. This might be a typical reaction for these coins one could reason because of the way most of these silver pieces were stored and survived. There are a substantial amount of survivors from the original mintage of 60,000; however this is not to be confused with the availability of the coin as they are rare and tough to locate in any grade especially so in uncirculated condition. Because there are more recent transactions, in the authors opinion, the 1873 five cent has picked up more momentum and has become more collectible than the very rare and key date 1876-H date recently.

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