A Group of 20th Century Royal Mint Proof-Record Coins, ex Melbourne Mint Museum

Bulgaria, Boris III, Proof 100 and 50 Leva, both 1934, both edges lettered, 6h (KM. 44-5; cf. Spink Australia 25, 1035; cf. Lissner 72) [2]. Brilliant, virtually mint state; of the highest rarity, very few specimens known £1,500-2,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Group of 20th Century Royal Mint Proof-Record Coins, ex Melbourne Mint Museum.

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Provenance: Despatched from London to Melbourne, 26 June 1935; Noble Numismatics Auction 91 (Melbourne), 21-3 July 2009, lot 2009.

Slabbed in NGC holders, both graded PF 65. The original order from the Bulgarian government, placed in 1933, was for almost 5,500,000 lettered-edge blanks, but the following year, after Percy Metcalfe visited Sofia to model a bust of King Boris III at a private sitting, the Royal Mint struck 20,000 100 leva and 468,005 50 leva pieces; the balance of the order was then completed at the Belgrade mint with master tools supplied from London