Eric Low Eng Wan, or just Eric Low as he is better known to fellow coin collectors, started as a young lawyer in 1984 in one of the oldest home-grown law firms in Singapore. Eric continues to practise law in the area of civil and commercial litigation.
While Eric was serving as an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court, he had occasion to work with Sam Sinnathuray. Sam managed to kindle Eric's interest in coin collecting. Sam also introduced Eric to his good friend, B H Lim of Taisei Coins & Stamps. With their encouragement and advice, Eric became seriously interested in collecting Straits Settlements coins.
As Eric then had rather modest means with which to feed his nascent hobby, he focused his entire collecting interest on Straits coins. This meant that unlike most collectors of this region, Eric stayed clear of other traditional areas such as Sarawak, British North Borneo, Penang and Malaya which usually accompany a Straits Settlements collection, apart from the few odd pieces which might have caught his fancy as a collector.
From the very beginning, Eric collected the better quality Straits coins that he came across and could afford, whether in coin shows or auctions or by private treaty. Over the years he was able to acquire many gems, mostly in auctions from various fine collections, including those of R J Ford, Ng Yit Boon and John Jay Pitman, just to mention a few.
The focused nature of Eric's collecting led to the happy result of his being able to acquire some of the finest Straits coins ever to become available, which he might otherwise not have been able to afford.
Since he only collected Straits coins, Eric would very often acquire duplicates, triplicates or several pieces of an issue whenever he found varieties like different portraits in some of the Victorian 5 cent pieces, or varieties struck from different or re-engraved dies, or overdates, or the narrow, regular or wide dates of the larger mintage issues.
Over a period of some 18 years, slowly and patiently, as he was in no hurry to complete his collection, Eric has been able to put together one of the most interesting collections of Straits Settlements coins ever assembled in this part of the world.
As Eric now feels that he has enjoyed his collection long enough, he has decided that it is time to let others have the opportunity to enjoy them as well, and Mavin is happy to auction the major part of it in two parts. All coins are graded and encapsulated by NGC or NCS in their new Edgeview® Holders.
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