A coin from a short-lived series and a complete collection roadblock is the star of our blog series this go around covering Whitman Publishing's 100 Greatest Modern World Coins. A key date and a rarity, authors Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker lead us through how this coin ended up on the top 100 list.
#96 – Palestine 1931 Silver 100 Mils
As part of the Palestine Mandate series that is comprised of 59 coins (not accounting for the Proofs). The 1931 100 mils is considered to be the rarest of the coins. There was a debate between numismatists who were trying to figure out if the 1931 or the 1934 was the reason for collectors' inability to complete the series for their collections. The 1934 had a mintage of just 200,000 pieces in circulation strike while the 1931 had 250,000. Both are rare, and both make it more difficult to complete a set. However, 30 years after its issue, the 1931 came out to be the scarcer of the two.
With help from certification companies and the ability to track their population, it was found that the survival rate of the 1931 date in Mint State condition is considerably less. One was certified by PCGS in MS62 at the 2014 Chicago International Coin Fair Signature Auction, with reports that it was one of three that were graded. It brought US$28,200 at auction.