Historic 1911 ‘Short-Whiskered Dragon’ from Peh Family Collection Soars to Record $4.88 Million at Heritage’s HKINF World & Ancient Coins

Auction continues Friday on HA.com DALLAS, Texas (June 18, 2026) — A magnificent example of one of the most celebrated pattern coins from the final years of Imperial China’s Qing Dynasty sold for $4.88 million in Heritage’s HKINF World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction, making it the most valuable World coin ever sold at Heritage, and one of the top non-U.S. coins ever sold in the world. The result for the Hsüan-t’ung silver Specimen Pattern “Short-Whiskered Dragon” Dollar Year 3 (1911) SP64+ PCGS, one of nearly 400 lots in the auction from The Peh Family Collection, eclipsed the $4.32 million paid in the December 2025 HKINF auction for a Republic Chang Tso-lin silver Specimen Pattern Dollar Year 16 (1927) SP63 PCGS. “We are thrilled to set yet another record at HKINF,” says Kyle Johnson, Heritage’s Managing Director of World & Ancient Coins. “The Peh Family Collection continues to produce some of the finest coins ever to reach the collecting market, and we look forward to bringing more to the auction block at the Dec. 5-7 HKINF World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction.” Part of the well-recognized 1911 Ta Ching dollar patterns from the Central Mint in Tientsin, the Short-Whiskered Dragon was produced as the imperial government worked toward a unified national coinage. Under the direction of chief engraver Luigi Giorgi, a series of experimental dollar designs was created, each featuring a similar obverse (reverse as holdered) paired with varying dragon motifs on the reverse (obverse as holdered). These patterns represent the final phase of Qing Dynasty coinage, struck on the eve of the dynasty’s collapse. Among these, the “Short-Whiskered” variety stands out. Only three of the eight documented survivors are privately owned. The auction will continue into Friday on HA.com, with a Signature® Internet Session that starts at midnight (Central time) and another Signature® Internet Session that begins at 5 a.m. (Central time). Complete results will be available Monday. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,750,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 6,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Christina Rees, Public Relations Specialist 214-409-1341 or Christina Rees@HA.com