Highest graded NGC SP65 (6) 66 (1) 67 (2) & PCGS SP65 (7)), 66 (12) 66+ (1) 67 (1)

Medium
Coins, Monies & Stamps

Provenance
Ex Robert Climpson Collection

Literature
Jerome Remick in his eponymous catalogue noted the existence of two varieties of the Mombasa 1888 H Rupee i.e. where the letters in the obverse legend are 'curved' or 'serifed' or have letters that are 'straight-based.' He didn't comment on the relative rarity of each type, but he did note that "proof specimens are more common for the one rupee than they are for the other silver coins (of the series)" and this is certainly backed up by the population reports of PCGS & NGC where surviving SP strikes are almost as plentiful as MS strikes. A quick count of coins third-party graded by PCGS show thirty-four coins struck for circulation (MS) against forty-six special presentation strikes (SP) whereas NGC has an inverse proportion of seventy-nine MS strikes against forty SP strikes. In total this amounts to 199 graded examples across both services split between 109 MS strikes and 86 SP strikes. But on what basis can it be determined what constitutes a Mint State coin as opposed to a special SP strike and is the apportioning necessarily accurate. Of the graded coins that we have seen, both grading services seem to make a judgement call on the relative flatness of the fields when determining what constitutes an MS or SP strike. It also helps if there is at least a partial wire rim. It could be argued that this is the wrong approach as the 1888 H Rupee NGC MS65 in our Sale (Lot 856 in the Jerome Remick Sale - 2006) has been graded Mint State even though the cataloguers Spinks (London) concurred with Remick’s description of the coin as a Proof. Despite its proof-like appearance, an impeccable provenance and the experienced opinion of a 400-year-old coin dealership it all came to naught with the graders at NGC who found it lacking when compared to the 1888 H Rupee (Lot 855 in the Remick Sale) which was sent in for grading at the same time. The first coin although it passed the test of having a partial wire rim also has a slight concavity in the fields at its perimeter. This obviously unsettled the graders who disregarded the opinions of both Remick and Spinks when they compared it in situ with the crisply struck second coin which had complete wire rims and dead-flat fields. The other difference whether noted or not by NGC related to the legend types with the first having ‘serifed’ lettering and the second ‘straight- based.’ Perhaps NGC were right in labelling this coin an MS strike, but would they have arrived at the same conclusion if the two coins had been sent to them separately for grading? Perhaps the simpler and more reliable test to split the MS & SP types is the criterion of the two legend types. The high-grade MS and SP coins pictured in the PCGS Gallery all present well and it is obviously line ball whether they are labelled Mint State or Specimens based on the fields but of the three MS coins highlighted you can plainly see that two have ‘curved’ lettering and the other is ‘straight-based,’ whilst all three coins in the SP gallery are ‘straight-based’. NGC do not provide a gallery of their best examples so the same exercise cannot be applied, but a cursory count of the forty-seven graded examples that we found pictured on the internet turned up only five examples of the variety with 'serifed' letters suggesting that this is the far rarer type, especially in grade. So, if the ‘legend test’ were to be applied to the 199 coins third-party graded from the original mintage of 94,000 it would be interesting to see how many ‘straight-based’ SP coins are hiding in the MS numbers. An analysis of PCGS and NGC photo files could reveal a direct link between legend types and MS and SP strikes but even if it can’t be determined if all circulation coins bore serifed legends it is still apparent that the sub-group of coins with ‘serif lettering’ is the much rarer type. Remick was right that a disproportionate number of ‘proofs’ of the one rupee have survived probably never having left Britain while the MS coins that have survived rigorous circulation are few and far between in high-grade. So, the 1888 H Rupee NGC MS65 from the Remick collection stands as the equal finest known Mint State coin, even if it is not as he determined a Proof.