An ultra‑rare experimental coin from the final days of imperial China has sold for $4.87 million.

The Hsüan-t’ung silver specimen pattern “short-whiskered dragon” dollar year 3 dates back to 1911 and was made at the Tientsin Mint in China.

Produced in the final year of the Qing Dynasty, the government was trying to create a modern, unified national currency system, and tasked Italian engraver Luigi Giorgi with modernising Chinese coinage.

Only one design was chosen for circulation, so the others became ultra‑rare patterns, and only three of the eight documented surviving coins are privately owned.

The lot was sold by Heritage Auctions in Hong Kong to a phone bidder on June 17.

Out of all known examples, it is the only one officially graded and authenticated by the two main global grading companies, PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company).

The coin, featuring a dragon with shorter 9mm whiskers, is part of the huge Peh Family Collection – assembled by Singapore-based businessman Peh Chin Hua between 2004 and 2014, and being auctioned off in sections.

Kyle Johnson, the auction house managing director of world & ancient coins, said: “We are thrilled to set yet another record at HKINF.

“The Peh Family Collection continues to produce some of the finest coins ever to reach the collecting market.”

It has since become one of the most expensive coins ever sold at auction.

The world’s most valuable coin ever sold at auction is the 1933 Double Eagle, which fetched $18,872,250 at auction in New York in June 2021.

For two decades, collector Peh bought up coins all over the world and never parted with a single piece in his lifetime.

The most expensive coin ever sold was the 1933 “Double Eagle”, which was auctioned for $18.87M at Sotheby’s, New York in 2021.

This pattern coin sale ranks around 15th in the most expensive coins ever sold.