Genuine 1/5 Section of Eight Reales, cut in Curacao in 1818
Curacao. (1818) 3 reaals on 1/5 section of Ferdinand VII Spanish colonial eight reales. KM-28. Very Fine. 4.3 grams. A nice piece with good light silver gray color and no damage. The countermark is firmly stamped on the reverse. FERD is complete on the obverse. Cut pieces are fascinating – we all know the story of cutting up an eight reales into “pieces of eight” and the word two-bit remains part of the American vernacular. Johann David Schoepf wrote in 1783 that “this divisional method soon led to a profitable business in the hands of skillful cutters, who contrived to make 5 quarters, or 9 and 10 eights” while staying in Annapolis. Thus, these one-fifth official cuts actually roughly approximate many of the “two bits” in American circulation in the era. Official cutting for use as small change was commonplace in the West Indies, and Curacao hung onto the practice longer than most. (In fact, if you’d like examples of the later stamp type, produced ca. 1819-25, I have those in stock as well). I enjoy handling these Curacao pieces, as their shape makes them stand out in a show case and they are good teaching tools for new collectors. They never last long once I put them out, either...Sold
A Beautiful 1815 Half Dollar, of a sort
Peru. 1815 JP four reales. Lima Mint. Choice Very Fine, technically better. Beautiful deep gray toning is highlighted with lustrous deep gold at the rims and a hint of blue at central reverse. The reverse is slightly double struck, though the central obverse is softly defined. Free of significant problems and boasting lovely originality. Four reales are scarcer than their two reales and eight reales brethren; this one should hold special interest for American collectors who value the U.S. half dollars of this year so highly...Sold
Spain. 1776 4 maravedis. Very Fine. Glossy medium brown. A little minor old buildup is present in the reverse recesses. A good looking coin from that "magic date" everyone likes. Spanish coppers turn up in American archaeological contexts on occasion. This coin is almost the exact same size as a half cent, suggesting it would find a natural role in the early American economy...Sold
Rare Cut 8 Reales from Martinique
Martinique. (1798) three escalins. Pridmore-1. Choice Very Fine. Cut from the northeast quadrant of a Carlos IV eight reales of unknown date and mint. 5.9 grams. Choice medium gray with nice undertones of gold and pale blue. Nice detail, most of V[L]TRA visible on the pillar, no bad marks or damage. The edge crenelations look as they should for the issue. A handsome example of this scarce cut West Indies denomination, tracing its provenance to the legendary Roehrs Collection, sold by Dix, Noonan, and Webb in September 2010. While the cut 1/5 8 reales of Curacao are fairly available in the marketplace, these 1/4 cuts from Martinique are much more elusive...Sold
Choice Mint State 1747 Half Joe
Brazil 1747 6400 reis or half joe. Rio mint. MS-63 (PCGS). From the recent StacksBowers offering of the Jim Jones collection, where I described this piece as: "Gem quality cartwheel luster revolves across frosty and even medium yellow gold surfaces. A stunning survivor of this early type, far scarcer in this advanced grade than the pieces struck by Jose I in the 1750s and 1760s. Only the most faint hairlines are noted, not to be confused with the abundant raised die finish lines visible in the obverse fields. A little soft at centers but otherwise very sharp. This is a truly impressive grade for one of the type, one that was well recognized by the moneymen of coastal British North America. Variously called a "Joe" or a "Half Joe" throughout early America, standard weight examples of this denomination circulated at $8 in the 18th century. By late century, most were underweight from clipping or commercial filing and re-edging operations. Few survive this beautiful today, particularly of this design type. Even more vital to British-American commerce in the 18th century than the 8 escudos and its fractions, the half Joe serves an important place in early American coin collections today." I sold this piece to Jim after buying it for $2,990 in the May 2008 Long Beach sale. While a small hoard of Mint State Jose I half Joes of the 1750s and 1760s has come out recently, selling for mid to high four figures, these Joao V pieces remain rare in real Mint State. A 1750 half Joe in MS-65 (NGC) brought over $10,000 in a recent Heritage sale. A poorly struck 1749 in AU-58 (NGC) brought $2,070 in a Heritage sale a year earlier. This piece obviously occupies the space in between, a choice and highly lustrous example of this important type...Sold
Spain. 1781 PJ four reales or double pistareen. Madrid mint. Choice Fine to Very Fine. A pretty much perfect circulated example of this scarce denomination. The surfaces are pleasing even gray with a hint of gold, lighter on the devices than the contrasting fields. If you wanted to be really picky, you could look for a find a minuscule rim bruise at 9:00 on the reverse, but it might take a moment. Head pistareens of Carlos III are fairly scarce, but double pistareens like this are even more so. It is a pleasant coincidence that this piece was struck the year of the Battle of Yorktown, won with the help of Spain as an ally...Sold
Rare and Distinctive 1811 Catalonia One Real Brockage
Spain. 1811 one real. Catalunya mint. Ferdinand VII in exile. Cal-1094. Full obverse brockage. Choice Fine or better. A rare, one year type coin with the compounded rarity of an extremely bold striking error. Despite soft striking on the portrait, the normally struck obverse shows excellent eye appeal, with lightly toned pale gray surfaces. The reverse shows a deeply impressed brockage of the obverse, with a sharp incuse portrait, full legends, and lively attractive surfaces. Any one real issue from this mint-in-exile of Ferdinand VII is scarce, with this denomination struck only in 1811. Calico lists two varieties, of which this is the scarce, with a nominal value of 300 euros. I can't imagine many brockages exist; I've certainly never seen one before. This error, caused when a struck coin clings to a die and becomes a striking surface for the next impression, is perhaps the most popular of the striking errors types. A brockage as distinctive as this could be a collection centerpiece...Sold
JAS. S. BRADLEY / GILDER & FRAME / MAKER / 154 Wm. St. N.Y. countermark on Mexico 1779 two reales, Mexico City mint. Brunk B-1025. Very Fine. An unusually nice example of this admittedly oft-seen countermark, usually seen on totally wiped out two reales or Seated quarters. This is an exceptionally strong mark, complete and well-centered, on a decent grade, nicely toned two reales of Carlos III. A little plaque on the cheek of Carlos pre-dates the counterstamping. Bradley was a painting and picture frame dealer at the corner of William and Ann Streets in downtown Manhattan, active in the mid-1850s when coins like this were nearing the end of their legal stay in circulation. This is the prettiest example of Bradley's mark I've owned...Sold
Choice Mint State Dutch Silver Rider
Netherlands, Utrecht. 1765 silver rider or ducatoon. Davenport-1832. MS-64 (NGC). Bright and bold cartwheel lustre swirls on both obverse and reverse. While the obverse picture shows the detail but not the surface reflectivity and lustre, the reverse photograph better suggests the surface quality. Very nicely struck, dusky golden-gray toning on chiefly brilliant surfaces, some trivial hairlines and a tiny as-struck rim flaw below 9:00 noted. The line on the obverse photo left of the shield of Utrecht is a reflection off the slab. This is the largest and most impressive of the Dutch silver crowns found in early American pockets, where it could have arrived via trading with the Dutch directly, in the West Indies, or even in the Dutch East Indies. In 1789, the Astrea of Captain Elias Hasket Derby became the first American vessel to voyage to Batavia. A decade later, Captain Edward Preble took the helm of the USS Essex as it accompanied a fleet of American merchant ships to the Dutch East Indies, a globe-trotting prelude to his now legendary trip to Tripoli. Such trips would have yielded coins like this one, though perhaps then lacking the gleam of this specimen. This piece brought $2,070 in the September 2008 Heritage sale of the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection...Sold
Beautifully Toned 1622 Lion Dollar
Netherlands, West Friesland. 1622 lion dollar. About Uncirculated. An impressive array of gold, pastel blue, and deep amber toning covers both obverse and reverse, with strong lustre apparent at the peripheries and still present in protected areas. Fairly well struck, no significant flaws, some minor wispy hairlines but absolutely magnificent eye appeal for a lion dollar. From the same collection as the 1652 Campen piece above, this is perhaps the most beautifully toned from the group. This piece hit circulation just as New Amsterdam was starting to see significant Dutch settlement, and for the next century, this type was the most common crown in New Amsterdam/New York. Called "dog dollars" by the populace, they saw wide circulation in North America, from the Bay of Maine to the Chesapeake. I've handled more than my fair share of nice lion dollars, and I don't think I've ever had one with toning as pretty as this...Sold
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. JONES EXCHANGE HOTEL counterstamp on Peru 1782 MI Lima 2 reales. Brunk J-184. Very Fine. A sharp, bold mark on a glossy, choice coin. Deep silver gray and very attractive. The mark JONES EXCHANGE HOTEL / 77 DOCK ST / PHILA is well defined but for slight weakness on ES of JONES. A popular mid-19th century advertising countermark, and an unquestionably genuine and worn piece. There are variants of this mark, often found on blank brass discs, whose potential authenticity has always bothered me. This one doesn't bother me in the least. It once graced the Anthony Terranova Collection, sold by Stack's in October 2010, and is accompanied by his envelope. A contemporary description of the hotel may be found here and two good images are posted here...Sold
Toned, Prooflike Bolivia 1774 Eight Reales
Bolivia. 1774 JR eight reales. Potosi Mint. AU-58 (NGC). A coin that bridges the gap from the crudity of Spain's colonial Andean mint to the look and surface quality of a mint like San Francisco or Carson City. The obverse is fully, deeply prooflike, with frosted devices that stand out in alarming detail. The centering is ideal and the peripheral dentils are sharp and complete. The reverse shows both a reflective and cartwheeling quality, and the devices are struck with the same exceptional detail, down to the complete PLUS ULTRA on the pillars. Both sides are pleasantly toned in old silver gray, with plenty of brilliance shining forth, particularly at peripheries. This piece comes from a small hoard found in the early 1970s. I've handled several pieces from the hoard, with grades up to MS-65, and this is of the same or better quality as most of the Mint State pieces. What makes it distinctive is its toning -- most pieces of this hoard of 1881-Sesque brilliance, utterly lacking toning. This piece is more attractive and more natural in appearance; it also happens to be less expensive than any of the Uncs I've handled...Sold
1760 Lima, Peru Carlos III Proclamation medal. Silver, 37 mm. Betts-469. Extremely Fine. Lustrous medium silver gray with beautiful old golden undertones and hints of pale blue and violet at obverse peripheries. Excellent flash and originality. An old scrape is present under the bust truncation, otherwise free of significant marks. Unholed. A popular medallic four reales, included in the Betts book on early American medals. Its distinctive design would make it a standout in a collection of Spanish colonial silver...Sold
Fascinating and Substantial 8 Reales Clump from El Cazador, 1784
(1784) clump of 14 eight reales from the wreck of the El Cazador. As found. A rustic and oddly beautiful clump, a stable and nicely encrustrated tumbled stack of Mexican 8 reales, probably dated 1783. Little design is visible, but the coins are easily counted and readily identified. The El Cazador sank on its way to New Orleans just after the end of the American Revolution, and its salvage yielded a large haul of principally Mexico 8 reales, along with a quantity of minors. A number of small clumps like this hit the market, but most are either fairly crumbly or not terribly attractive. This one has a nice little underwater art look to it. While clumps are known in the marketplace from a variety of shipwrecks, the El Cazador is the only such wreck that has a close connection to early North America...Sold
Guatemala. 1776 P two reales. Guatemala mint. About Very Fine. An attractive and original example from this popular, scarce colonial mint. This was the last year of the G mintmark, found on only three dates of portrait 2 reales, before NG (for Nueva Guatemala) became the standard with the resumption of coining in 1779. A major earthquake in 1773 destroyed most of the city now called Antiqua Guatemala or "Old Guatemala," and the order came from the King not to rebuild on that spot. The new capital, present-day Guatemala City, was occupied in 1776, making this the final issue from the old city. This short-lived type is illustrated in Calico with a well worn example. This piece shows beautiful light toning over the old gray surfaces. The die has sunk around the portrait, with a heavy internal break in the upper right obverse field. The soft central strike makes grading difficult, but technically this is at least Very Fine and maybe better. Some light old scratches between the nose and the internal break are toned over and have the feel of some shopkeeper poking at the raised metal trying to figure out if it was lead solder or something. I usually loathe scratches but these don't especially bother me, especially on such a tough coin. If you have any designs of putting together a mint set of two reales from the magic year of 1776, this would be pretty tough to improve upon...Sold
France. 1779 A 1/10 ecu or 12 sols. Paris mint. Louis XV. Choice About Uncirculated. Highly attractive and original deep gray and golden toning, with frosty lustre apparent on both sides. Excellent quality, a bit softly struck at central reverse opposite the highest point of Louis's bust. Struck during the American Revolution, this type would have seen ready circulation in early America. As seen on the 1806 chart of Congressionally approved values in the coin scale on my Numismatic:Other page, French ecus circulated in that era as 110 cents, making this an 11 cent piece. One can imagine a consumer of the era accepting it as a dime in change in one transaction and fancying himself a savvy investor passing it as a one real later. By 1806, few of these would have looked this nice...Sold
Mexico. 1807 TH eight reales. Mexico City mint. AU-50 (NGC). Slabbed a long time ago by NGC, ca. 1995, when the ANA had just adopted that modernistic eagle-from-coin logo. Magnificently toned, with the sort of rainbow tones visible in the brightest part of the photo present all over the obverse, more subtle on the reverse. Good lustre on both sides, obverse a bit prooflike. Very attractive, only the most minor hairlines or handling, probably undergraded by five points by current standards. Gorgeously toned eight reales always sell readily...Sold
Spain. 1732 PA two reales or pistareen. Seville mint. Choice Extremely Fine. Traces of lustre and light golden toning grace nice quality surfaces. Good detail, some minor old hairlines, evenly struck. This type was coined on a screw press at Seville, not a roller press as seen on earlier pistareen issues. The pistareen and its cut fractions was perhaps the most common small silver coin in the Middle Colonies in the 18th century, particularly in Maryland and Virginia. The year this coin was struck, a man was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia who went on to become the first President of the United States...Sold
Portugal. 1738 6400 reis or half Joe. Lisbon mint. Very Fine. 199.7 grains, or 8 pennyweights, 7 2/3 grains. Clipped and fraudulently re-edged, or "re-Castainganated" during its circulating life. Nice rich yellow gold with some minor hairlines and a single short old scratch under NE of JOANNES. Clipped down to the very nub of the denticles on both sides, about 16 grains under the post-Revolutionary standard common throughout North America and 19 grains under the pre-Revolutionary standard. Clipped, underweight half Joes like this were the reason plugging and regulating became a widespread phenomenon throughout North America and the West Indies in the 1750-1790 era. The half Joe was the single most prominent gold coin in the early American economy, and this gently circulated and notably clipped example serves not only to display this type, but also one of the chief problems with its use in colonial America...Sold
Danish West Indies. 1767 12 skillings. Altona Mint, struck 1795 and 1800. Fine to Very Fine. Light silver gray with some deeper toning at peripheries. Good eye appeal, though the obverse shows some light planchet striations and a batch is present at the softly struck low spot at central reverse. Striations are par for the course on this issue, and though not impossible to find a piece without them, they're rare. Demand for DWI colonial issues, struck in the 18th century for the islands that became the US Virgin Islands in 1917, has increased a great deal in the last few years; witness the nice VF specimen of this same issue that hammered at $650 (plus 18%) in a US sale last month. I try to buy these when I can find them, though finding ones nicer than this has been a real challenge. It's not perfect, but the relevance of this issue to early American history (it says AMERICANSK on it!) and the scarcity of nice pieces in the marketplace make it well worth...Sold
Scarce 1578 Half Lion Dollar, As Circulated in early New York
Holland. 1578 half lion dollar. Delmonte-870. Very Fine. A pleasing example of this scarce issue, dozens (hundreds?) of times rarer than its crown-sized compatriot. Light silver gray with just a hint of frost, toned to medium gray on devices. A low spot in the left obverse field shows some softness of strike and some pre-striking planchet fissures. No post-striking flaws are noted, the planchet is nice and round, and the eye appeal is good for the grade. I'd still be able to look you in the eye if I sold this as an Extremely Fine. Examples of this denomination circulated alongside lion dollars in early America, as proven by the presence of half lion dollars among the treasure of the HMS Feversham, a numismatic time capsule from New York in 1711. Lion dollars have become popular inclusions in collections of early American coins, and so too should half lions...Sold
France / John Law. 1720 BB liard. Strasbourg Mint. Choice Very Fine. Rich chocolate brown with simply ideal glossy surfaces. This is definitely the most problem free VF I've ever seen, and I've only seen four or five better ones. I collected French colonials and associated issues for about a decade before I ever "went pro," so I sought these things out -- they just don't exist choice. While not properly a French colonial coin, this year has been collected since the 19th century for its association with the notorious Scottish financier John Law. Law controlled the French mints from December 1719 until January 1721, making 1720-dated coins the only surefire numismatic tie to his Mississippi Bubble scheme. This type would have found ready circulation in both French and British America in the 18th century, and I'm sure some made their way here. This one is unimproveably pretty...Sold
French Colonies / Guadeloupe. 1767-A sou. Paris mint. Counterstamped RF in 1793 for circulation in Guadeloupe. Choice Very Fine. A popular US colonial issue, though both the undercoin and the countermark were produced for the French Colonies after North America had been ceded. Despite the timeline problem, this type continues to be sought out by most colonial collectors. While some may well have circulated in American Gulf Coast cities, this type absolutely circulated all over the French West Indies. It represents an easy entry into the fascinating cut and countermarked coins of the West Indies, with a tie to the French and Indian War and the French Revolution. Guadeloupe, a tiny sugar island, was traded for the whole of Canada at the Treaty of Paris negotiations in 1763; this was the next coinage authorized for the island after the French re-assumed control. In 1793, the Revolutionary government was in charge of France, and it recalled these pieces to be countermarked to circulate at a different value. These pieces were called "collots" after the governor of Guadeloupe, Georges Henri Victor Collot, who engaged in a spy mission into the American interior in 1795 and 1795 on behalf of the French government. This piece is pleasing dark brown and mahogany with good gloss. Most example of this issue are rather ugly. This one is superb for the grade...Sold
Mexico. 1788 FM eight reales. Mexico City mint. AU-58 (PCGS). Briliant and lustrous, with just the merest hints of light toning. Flashy and lustrous, particularly prooflike on the reverse, some hairlines and light marks but attractive overall. This piece comes from the same Haitian hoard as the 1786 eight reales above. Both of these are in the top 10% of the specimens I've seen...Sold
Beautiful 1794 Eight Reales
Mexico. 1794 FM eight reales. Mexico City mint. AU-58 (PCGS). A beautiful and choice example, with rich luster still reflecting from brilliant fields, decoratively and subtly toned with deeper gray highlights and gold-amber near the rims. Cartwheel luster remains on both sides, well struck and nicely detailed. Some light striking striations are present at the crown on the reverse. Nicely original, a scarce near Mint survivor from a non-hoard date...Sold
Mexico. 1786 FF two reales. Mexico City Mint. AU-55 (NGC). Beautiful golden lustrous highlights peek out from deep antique silver gray surfaces. Great color, detail, and eye appeal. Die broken behind Carlos's head, clash visible at right obverse peripheral, surfaces show minor handling but are nice for the grade. A very handsome type coin...Sold
Spain. 1737 IP real or half pistareen. Seville Mint. EF-45 (NGC). A beautifully toned example, with an amazing range of color on lustrous surfaces. Deep gold, paler champagne, pastel blue, deep purple, and royal blue, all toned that gathered while sitting in a paper envelope for literally decades in an old-time dealer's stock until this piece and a handful like it came to the market a few years ago. This type saw frequent circulation in early America, and half-cut "five cent pieces" are often found by metal detectorists around the Chesapeake. I'm not sure I've ever owned a prettier example...Sold
Mexico. 1765 M two reales. Mexico City Mint. Choice Extremely Fine. A beautifully original Pillar two reales, with dark toning over lively, pleasing surfaces. Some light golden highlights surround the devices, but the fields on both sides are an even dark blue-gray that bespeaks benign neglect for a century or two. A classic type, the "two bits" and proto-quarter dollar of early America. Tales of the preponderance of coins such as this have been well promugated, and early quarter collectors often attribute the small mintages of US Mint quarters to the large numbers of two reales then circulating. Because of their workhorse status, high grade Pillar two reales are very tough to find -- even though four reales are rarer overall, I've found that two reales are the least frequently encountered in Mint State of all the Pillar types. This one isn't Unc, but it's not much worn. PLUS ULTRA is complete, the rims are intact, and no bad marks are seen. This would be a fine type piece in a carefully selected denomination set...Sold
Isles du Vent / Windward Islands. 1731 H 6 sols. La Rochelle mint. About Uncirculated. Richly and deeply toned with dark gray surfaces and light gray-blue lustre around the reverse legends. Choice and original, one tiny little rim nick above X of REX is infinitesimal. These tiny 6 and 12 sols silver coins were struck for the islands known to the English as the Windward Islands or Lesser Antilles -- places like Martinique, Saint Martin, Grenada, and Guadeloupe. Perhaps because of the frequency of trade with these places through the 18th century, the coins of Isles du Vent turn up in American soil, particularly in the mid-Atlantic region. Low grade coins are the rule in the marketplace, when they do turn up. This one brought $632.50 in 2007 (ticket still accompanies the coin)...Sold
England. 1746 halfpenny. MS-62BN (PCGS). I bought this in a green label MS-62 holder, took one look at it, knew it was at least a 63 since it had great color and no serious marks, and cracked it out. It looks great raw, with lively luster and perfect chocolate brown color with a hint of red in protected areas, particularly at GEORGIVS. The Gods of Plastic spoke, and it came back a 62 again. I think it’s nicer, and I think anyone who bought it expecting a 63-quality coin would be pleased with it...Sold
Treasure from the 1725 Wreck of Le Chameau, Rare Date 1724-A Ecu
France. 1724-A ecu. Paris Mint. Uncirculated, but seaworn. Pale silver, an even and unnatural tone from post-salvage cleaning, but not bright or polished. While corroded, particularly in a patch at Louis' face, this piece is sharper than 95% of Chameau salvage ecus I've seen. It even retains most of its edge lettering, all traces of which are worn off on most examples from the wreck. Beyond its fine quality (which was its initial attraction to me), it turns out that the 1724-A mintmark combination is very rare: Breen had never seen one, and I don't recall ever seeing one before either. Most Chameau ecus are darkened lumps with just a suggestion of visible detail. This one is far nicer...Sold
Beautiful Chocolate Brown 1737 Irish Halfpenny
Ireland. 1737 halfpenny. George II. AU-55 (PCGS). Pretty much perfect. It's free of marks and shows the most even, choice, dark chocolate brown color you can imagine. It's also hard and glossy. If I had to mention a problem, there is a tiny mark under N in HIBERNIA. Aside from that, you have to be looking for a problem and having a bad day to think this is anything less than really nice. This is an ideal issue for inclusion in an American cabinet. A specimen of this date was among the half dozen genuine Irish halfpence found in the Philadelphia Highway Coin Find in 1975 when I-95 plowed over Philly's historic waterfront (not that I'm bitter). Further, it's just plain tough to find nice -- a look in the Stack's archive for the last several years finds more 1737 Higleys than 1737 Irish halfpence, and I didn't see one better than well circulated, aside from the proofs. A pinscratched raw AU brought $322 in 2008. I can't recall ever seeing a business strike Unc on the market...Sold
Ireland. 1603-04 sixpence of James I. Bell privy mark. VF-35 (NGC). A choice example, showing a bold portrait for this usually shallowly struck issue. Lovely light blue and gold toning on old silver gray surfaces. Some highly localized weakness is present below the reverse crown, no nicks or scratches, not wavy like many of these coins. Plenty of Irish coppers of this era have turned up at Jamestown (particularly the 1601-02 pennies) and English sixpence of Elizabeth I and James VI commonly emerge from Virginia soil. This type, much scarcer than its English counterpart, likely saw some cameo appearances on this side of the Atlantic too. Nice for one of these...Sold
Cayenne, French Guiana, South America. 1789 2 sous. AU-58 (NGC). Good luster encircles the original “silvering” (actually tinning), and a hint of copper color shows on the highpoints. Choice and very attractive. Though these coins are pretty common (email me if you want to buy a circulated example for $100), nice high grade coins are not generally available. A good percentage of this type ended up countermarked by one of the various French islands in the West Indies and, by extension, in the coastal cities that depended upon trade with the West Indies – from Galveston to Baltimore. It’s a natural extension of the sou marque series, and the two issues likely circulated side by side in Canada. Cayenne (yes, the pepper is named for it) is the capital city of French Guiana, about 100 miles from the northernmost border of Brazil. Its position on the northeastern tip of the continent made it a rich trade port in this era. All that commerce left very few Mint State coins for future collectors...Sold
Mexico / Love Token. 1776 FM one real, engraved EP 1799 in fancy script on the obverse. Fine or better, engraving sharper. Nice two-tone old silver gray with deep gray fields enlivened with pastel blue and violet in the right light. Very nicely engraved in a florid 18th century hand, perhaps by an early fan of Elvis Presley. The two "magic dates" on this piece - 1799 was the year of Washington's death, not to mention a key large cent date - make it a particularly interesting love token...Sold
Jamaica. (1758) five pence, countermarked on a Peru 1/2 real of 1756. Very Fine. Glossy dark gray, pleasing and even, with lighter devices. An original and nicely circulated example of this scarce British-issued countermark. Both countermarks have complete circular outlines, and the reverse one is particularly bold. A little dent at NU of UNUM is the only notable flaw. Interest in the cut and countermarked issues of the West Indies continues to grow, as does the understanding that the West Indies were a vital part of American commerce, both before and after the Declaration of Independence. It's getting harder to buy these Jamaican countermarks: a decent looking real, maybe a little nicer than this coin, brought $862.50 against an estimate of $200 in the January 2011 NYINC sale, for instance. A good percentage of those I see are cleaned or damaged, so it's nice to be able to offer a pretty decent looking one...Sold
Bolivia. 1687-VR. Potosi Mint. Choice Fine. Well struck on an unusually broad planchet, with two full dates, one and a half assayer marks, and bold reverse denomination and mintmark. In the fashion of colonial coin painted die varieties, "2R" was neatly inked once upon a time atop the obverse, something I didn't even notice (it's really faint) until photographing this piece. A very nice, attractive cob with great color...Sold
Gem AU 1805 Eight Reales with Beautiful Color
Mexico. 1805 TH eight reales. Mexico City Mint. AU-55 (NGC). A simply beautiful piece, with rich lustre on both sides, profound reflectivity on the reverse, and superb detail. The obverse is richly toned in deep gray, bold gold and and amber at the rims, and pastel blue in the fields. The reverse is more "bulls-eye" in form, with a pale blue center surrounded by a ring of champagne that turns to deep gold. I really like choice eight reales in choice AU, and I tend to handle quite a few of them. This is as pretty as any of the ones I've sold in the last few years...Sold
Spanish Netherlands, Brabant. 1619 ducaton. Dav-4428. Antwerp Mint. Choice Extremely Fine. Gold and pastel blue highlights grace silver gray surfaces. Very little wear is present, and the jugate busts of Albert and Isabella are sharply defined. Some minor marks, light hairlines, a trifle bright from a long forgotten wiping. This large crown competed with, and circulated alongside of, Lion dollars in Europe and America. This scarce type was struck for just a few years and is rarely encountered in attractive condition. This one would be very tough to improve upon...Sold
Flip-Over Double Struck 1714 Escudo from the Fleet of 1715
Mexico. 1714 J one escudo. Mexico City mint. Choice Mint State. Bright light yellow gold with the typical sedate glowing lustre of the Fleet of 1715 survivors. This is the kind of quality the grading services usually call MS-63. This piece shows a complete date, bold mintmark and assayer, and a strong shield. The cross is a bit muddled from the presence of a shield struck earlier, a very interesting error on a gold coin, rare but not unheard of. This is a beautiful small coin from this famous series of wrecks whose appeal never seems to fade...Sold
Bolivia. 1780PR 8 reales. Potosi Mint. AU-58 (NGC). Brilliant and untoned with abundant original lustre. The cartwheel is intact on the obverse, just interrupted amidst light central friction. The reverse is more prooflike and is of nice Mint State quality judged alone. Some light hairlines are typical of the grade. This piece was probably found in a hoard and was lightly cleaned upon discovery; coins from such hoards are often found encrusted but appear like this when the crust is removed. This is more attractive than most such pieces, with bright lustre and flash and not a trace of corrosion...Sold
1775 Mexico two reales counterstamped H. SAGE. Brunk-35570 (or Brunk S-88, new edition). Very Good, mark better. This is the Brunk plate coin. The book also cites an 1806 half dollar, and an 1830 half dollar in the Terranova Collection (Stack's, September 2010) also had this mark. It is perhaps the mark of Henry Sage, a silversmith who worked in Circleville, Ohio in the 1850s. This is a rare countermark, yet it's in Brunk, which is seemingly more attractive than a maverick so rare that it's unlisted. I've always liked countermarked foreign coins better than American ones, as they offer information of just what foreign types circulated in America, and in what proportions. Lots of two reales are marked, a prime indication of the primacy the "two bit" denomination had among silver coins in early American pockets...Sold
When counterfeiters aren't numismatists: the Colombian equivalent of a 1921 Indian cent
Colombia. "1848" FM imitation 1 escudo. "Popayan" mint. Choice Fine. 3.22 grams, 20 mm. Wholly original, with fine light green toning on not-quite-gold yellow surfaces. Probably 14 karat or so. Struck from same obverse die as Eliasberg (2005): 1609, described by an extremely good looking numismatist with a funny last name as "Struck from crude handmade dies, dated in 1848 but imitating a type that was last struck in 1836! The E of the denomination is upside down. An amateurish circulating counterfeit." That coin was a bit more worn and had a long test scratch down the left obverse field. This one has a reverse that is slightly double struck. This reverse die does not have an upside down E, but is similarly crude overall. This is the only other example of this circulating counterfeit I've seen aside from the Clapp-Eliasberg coin. Charming, cool, and precisely the kind of thing that could have circulated in (or been made in) early America...Sold
Dominica. (1798) 1 1/2 bitts or "moco." Pridmore-22, KM-1. Silver, 48 grains. Choice Extremely Fine. An exceptionally nice and problem-free specimen of this usually worn or scratched West Indian issue. Produced from punching out a hole from the center of a Spanish colonial 8 reales that had been flattened, this issue was much counterfeited at the time. This example shows superb die work, the standard 15 crenulations at the edge, and is full statutory weight. The quality of this piece is better than either of the Roehrs examples and just about every other piece on the market in the last few years. Dominica is south of Guadeloupe and north of Martinique. In 1798, the British island was the destination for John Barry's squadron, including the USS George Washington and the USS Constitution, during the Quasi War with France. One wonders what American sailors thought of the bizarrely mutilated coinage they found upon their arrival...Sold
A High Grade Specimen of a Scarce Early Pistareen Type
Spain. 1627 two reales. Segovia Mint. About Uncirculated. Phillip IV, struck on roller dies at the still-standing mint in Segovia. Unpriced in KM above EF, this type is scarce in any grade and highly elusive like this: with light periperal toning and traces of lustre on the silver gray surfaces. This type does not come highly lustrous, since it was really squeezed rather than struck, but this one is certainly lively. The reverse is ideally centered, the obverse is complete if a bit misaligned due to roller misalignment. The later versions of this type, coined in the early 18th century, became the most commonly encountered silver coin in the Middle Colonies, particularly so when cut into quarters and halves. Jefferson even decided on a dime as the keystone of the decimal coinage system since it was equal to a half pistareen, which he called "perfectly familiar to us all." This is nice enough that anyone assembling a set of pistareens by monarch or mint would never have to upgrade this one...Sold
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1837 Province of Lower Canada halfpenny bank token. Full obverse brockage. Fine, holed. Even 1840s Canadians thought errors were cool; one thought this was cool enough to pierce and wear, or carry as a watch fob. It's well worn, and there are a few minor old rim dents, and some dirt might have been removed from around the standing figure on the normally struck side, but it's still pretty nice looking for the grade. Brockages are perhaps the most avidly collected of all major striking errors (let's face it: they look neat), and even low grade ones get attention...Sold
Mexico. (ca. 1621-65) four reales of Phillip IV. Mexico City Mint. P Assayer. Fine to Very Fine. Nice natural antique silver gray with some contrasting earthen highlights. The mintmark and assayer are very bold on the reverse, the denomination is affected by a planchet split. A pleasing four reales cob, a classic early type...Sold
France / John Law. 1720 sol. Strasbourg (BB) mint. Nice Very Fine. Fairly smooth and very pleasing, dusky light brown on the obverse and even chocolate brown on the reverse. There is a die crack within the shield on the reverse. This denomination, listed in the Redbook and long collected in American cabinets, is tough to find nice. Most look like total garbage. This one is a lot nicer than that. Its collectibility comes from the American relevance of John Law of Mississippi Bubble fame. He controlled the French mints from December 1719 to January 1721, making 1720-dated coins the only real "John Law" coins. The insinuations that these coins were distributed in America officially is, so far, not proven in the documents, though colonial 9 deniers coppers were shipped to Nouvelle France in 1721. This denomination would have fit into the American scheme as a "copper" and undoubtedly many reached our shores...Sold
High Quality 1721 Pistareen
Spain. 1721-R two reales or pistareen. Segovia Mint. Choice About Uncirculated. Just a very nice pistareen, with sedate old toning and frosty lustre in a melange of old gray and subtle pastels. A little mint-produced rim flaw at I of HISPAN does little to detract. I just bought this from a European dealer and didn't bother slabbing it. Maybe they'd call it Unc, maybe just AU. In a holder, it would be more difficult to discern the difference in quality between this and the typical slabbed pistareen in that grade range -- rarely are AU pistareens this pleasing and problem-free...Sold
Fascinating Flip-Over Double Struck 1 Escudo Cob
Colombia. Bogota. (ca. 1700) 1 escudo cob. Monarch indiscernible (at least by me). About Uncirculated. 3.32 grams, full weight. A high grade and pleasing little cob, nearly round and extremely sharp. This one was struck off center once, flipped over, and then missed again, resulting in a mismash of cross and shield that makes this piece especially fun to study. A fun little piece, one that wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in early America as long as it weighed correctly...Sold
Peru, Lima. 1776 MJ 1/2 real. Very Good. Just a nice choice circulated example with medium gray surfaces. Sold
Bolivia 1776 4 Reales
Bolivia, Potosi. 1776 JR 4 reales. Choice Fine. A handsome circulated example of the toughest part of a 1776-dated denomination set. Light gray with some olive toning at the obverse periphery, more colorful on the reverse with faint gold and bold green-blue at the right side. A very thin scratch over the head is the only problem to note...Sold
England. 1703 VIGO half crown. Queen Anne. Choice Very Fine. Glossy deep golden gray surfaces are lively and beautifully toned, free of major marks or the oft-seen planchet striations. A little rim push at 6:00 on the reverse doesn't affect the eye appeal much. The Vigo issues of 1702 and 1703 commemorate the French and Spanish treasure fleet that was pushed ashore at the Spanish port of Vigo by the Royal Navy. The American origin point of the Spanish treasure and fleet, which left from Vera Cruz in Mexico in June 1702, induced Betts to place the Vigo-related medals in his work on medals of early America, and the coins have likewise often been sought by collectors of early American coins. This attractive piece was once in the collection of Vermont copper specialist Roy Bonjour...Sold
Scotland. James VI (1567-1625) 2 shillings. S.5509. AU-53 (PCGS). Lustrous silver gray with some deeper blue and green tones at the peripheries, along with a bit of old encrustation among a few letters of the reverse legend. A sharp specimen of this little coin, not unlike some of the other small silver issues of James I (of England, same guy) found at Jamestown. Plenty of 17th century Scottish coins have turned up among the area of Virginia's earliest settlements. It is no accident that the tiny wharf community across the James River from Jamestown, near Smith's Fort and Bacon's Castle, was named Scotland. This two shillings is similar size to an English halfgroat (Yes, the Scottish denominational system of the era was a bit odd), weighing just about a gram...Sold
(1810) Spain / Colonies Two Reales portrait master die. Steel, 62 mm tall, 56 mm across the octagonal face from side to side. Stamped three times on its face, 1810 with the Candiz mintmark at top, the portrait of Ferdinand VII to be stamped into working hubs to create dies for two reales at center, and the engraver’s F.(elix) SAGAU F(ecit). Lightly oxidized across the once polished face, but smooth and free from corrosion. The rough hewn base probably looks about like it did when new, if slightly more oxidized now. The whole tool is undamaged and the fine details are very sharp. It would take nothing more than a little polishing to put this master die right back into production. The portrait is incuse on this tool; it would be used to produce the hub from which working dies would be created.Mint artifacts – from Europe or elsewhere – are very rare from this period. The number of coining dies that survive from the first quarter of the 19th century is small (though medal dies seems somewhat more numerous). A similar artifact, a portrait master die for a ˝ real of Carlos IV, was recently found in Guatemala and sold in Sedwick Treasure Auction #7 in April 2010. This may have been from the same cache, though it was purchased in a Spanish auction. These portrait puncheons were produced from a single master punch so as to standardize the portrait on all coins of the same denomination from every Spanish mint, both mainland and colonial. This master die could have been used in any of those mints. This would be a dramatic and educational addition to a collection of two reales, or any other coins of the 18th or 19th centuries that would have used similar hubbing technology – anything from Connecticut coppers to Bust halves. Its size and heft gives it the in hand feel of a substantial paperweight...Sold
Netherlands. Kampen. 1677 Lion dollar. EF-45 (NGC). A fascinating flip-over double strike – the first major error I’ve ever seen on this popular early American-associated type. The surfaces are brilliant and largely lustrous, probably suggesting recovery from one of the decent sized hoards of Lion dollars that turn up, usually in the eastern Mediterranean. These world trade coins were, of course, used in early America, particularly in Dutch areas such as Hudson and Delaware River valleys. This piece was struck just three years after the Dutch gave up title to Nieu Amsterdam for the last time. The double striking is bold on both sides. High quality, eye catching, and historic...Sold
A 1601 Irish Penny, Scarce Everywhere But Jamestown
Ireland. 1601 penny. Copper. Very Fine. Even dark olive patina, like most of this type I've seen. Fairly well centered on the tiny (16 mm) planchet, harp and date sharp at central obverse, ELIZABETH complete on reverse. Struck for only two years, these crude pennies were a shoddy stepcousin of the small silver coins struck for use in England. They were not well loved in Ireland, and it appears that substantial numbers were shipped to America, much like the St. Patrick's coppers and Wood's Hibernias were decades later. Dozens have been found at the Jamestown digs, with this new archaeological evidence placing them in the canon of must-have 17th century types used in early America. I buy every one I can find, which isn't many, and they always sell quickly...Sold
England. 1695 crown. William III. Choice Fine. Nice deep glossy dark gray. No serious marks despite years of circulation, some minor slide marks, really an impressively problem-free coin for the grade. The English crown was one of just five coins on the list of silver coins approved by the Resolution of Congress on September 2, 1776; the others were the French ecu, the Spanish eight reales, the shilling, and the sixpence. This type was undoubtedly one of the ones that made it to America, and smaller silver coins of William III often turn up in early to mid 18th century archaeological contexts...Sold
Mint State 1727 Pistareen
Spain. 1727 F pistareen two reales. Segovia Mint. MS-63 (NGC). Frosty silver lustre is pervasive on both sides, with just light toning present. The natural curvature of both sides is intact, and the strike is sharp, though the obverse is aligned to 7:00. Neither service quite knows how to grade these things. The surfaces are almost always striated, a manifestation of die wear on roller dies, and the curvature is unlike 99.999% of the coins that cross their desks. The best pistareen I ever saw, a precious gem with flawless surfaces and full lustre, was graded MS-60 by a major service. Go figure. This one is graded MS-63, which I guess is about right, though there are no marks, cleaning or flaws that might keep it from a higher grade. Pistareens aren't rare. They were struck in large quantities and circulated widely, most notably in the American Middle Colonies and the West Indies. Those that circulated into the 1850s (and beyond) at five-to-the-dollar ended up nearly slick. Nice circulated pieces can be found, but real Mint State coins are rare. There were few foreign coins more common in early America (Jefferson called them "perfectly familiar to us all"), and this high grade piece would faithfully represent this type in a connoisseur quality collection...Sold
A Choice Ecu of Louis XVI
France. 1785 K ecu. Bordeaux Mint. AU-58 (PCGS). While technically accurate (there is indeed a hint of rub on the curl above Louis' ear), this grade minimizes the astounding preservation of this coin. Light golden toning graces the fully lustrous fields, particularly even and rich on the reverse. The reverse is fully prooflike, while the somewhat reflective obverse shows a remarkable degree of cartwheel. A minor batch of hairlines is present in the left obverse field. Fully detailed and beautiful, this is a superlative example of a type that is challenging in top grade. Poke around the auction records. Most of the slabbed Uncs are either, ahem, lacking in originality, or they are poorly made coins, with bad adjustment marks or strike problems, etc. There are very few coins like this in the marketplace. A batch of French ecus were turned into the first 1794 half dollars at the Philadelphia Mint; maybe that's where all the pretty ones went?...Sold
Netherlands, Holland. 1589 Lion dollar. Choice Very Fine. An especially sharply struck Lion dollar, with nice old silver gray surfaces that do not show the usual hairlines of hoard-find Lion dollars. Round and attractive, a single tiny pit on the reverse periphery at 4:00, tiny flaw (apparently as struck, not a nick) atop reverse rim at 12:00. Though there is light wear, this is sharper than a significant percentage of higher grade coins by virtue of its strike. An excellent type coin...Sold
Isle du Vent (Windward Islands). 1731 H 12 sols. La Rochelle Mint. AU-58 (NGC). Nicely toned with pastel slate blue around devices and a bit of autumnal maroon-gray on the reverse over the lustrous, reflective fields. As close to Mint State as any I've encountered. No bad marks, some very minor hairlines, excellent strike and eye appeal. I've liked this type for a long time -- probably since I learned that several specimens were found in the excavations at Fort Frederick in Maryland. Others have been recovered in Virginia. Usually when found in the marketplace, the silver 12 sols of Isle du Vent of 1731 and 1732 tend to be well worn. Very few exist in high grade. PCGS has graded one Unc, one in 58, and nothing else higher than 50. I've seen a two NGC AUs but never a Mint State coin. This coin would be very, very difficult to upgrade...Sold
Pirates Expelled!
Bahamas. 1806 penny. George III. About Uncirculated. Dies by Conrad Kuchler at Boulton and Watt. A nice, glossy high grade specimen of this popular copper, the only coinage authorized for the Bahamas until modern times. As Pridmore noted, amidst some colorful language, "they refused to take them and the project was a failure." Thus, most tend to be in fairly nice grade. This one shows only the lightest wear, with lustrous light tan on the obverse and nice blend of dark chocolate and tan on the reverse. There are a couple little specks on the obverse, but the coin shows no significant flaws. This tends to be a popular issue, not just because the Bahamas are 50 miles off the coast of Florida or because the islands were part of the same Atlantic economy as the American colonies and United States, but because of something far more important: pirates. Pirates are cool, and there aren't many coins that name check them personally. This one does, with a reverse inscription EXPULSIS PIRATIS / RESTITUTA COMMERCIA or "Commerce Restored by the Expulsion of the Pirates." The famous pirates Henry Morgan and Blackbeard, among others, used the islands as a base of operation, until Governor Woodes Rogers' 1718 campaign to rid the Bahamas from piracy by offering pardons to those who would cease their activities and a noose to those who wouldn't. 120,000 of these pennies (which happen to be the size of halfpennies in England) were struck for the unappreciative Bahamian citizenry, who preferred cut silver to coins that were supposed to circulate at double their value. Pirates didn't like them much either...Sold
Colombia. 1772 JS 2 escudos. Popayan mint. VF-30 (NGC). Just a nice honest to goodness circulated example of this type, with no bad marks and good medium yellow color. This denomination, often called a pistole in early America, was perhaps the most common of the Spanish types, even moreso than the eight escudos pieces. This date was not included in the Eliasberg Collection, which was one of the most advanced collections of Colombian gold of this era ever assembled...Sold
Louis d'or from the wreck of Le Chameau
France / Canada. 1725 H (La Rochelle Mint) Louis d'or from the wreck of Le Chameau, sunk at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, August 27, 1725. Breen-321. An uncleaned Mint State example of a gold coin shipped to North America at the specific behest of the French crown. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of Louis d'ors and ecus were aboard Le Chameau, the entire annual allowance for Canada, along with about 200 men, mostly new recruits bound for the new French fortress at Louisbourg, at the tip of Cape Breton Island. As the ship approached the treacherous harbor, it foundered and all were lost. Beginning in the mid 1960s, the treasure of the ship was salvaged, and it was introduced to the market in 1971 via a Sotheby Parke-Bernet auction in New York City. John Ford served as one of the initial consultants - for his pay, he asked to select a set of coins by date and mintmark before they were cleaned. This was Ford's 1725-H, the most famous (and numerous) date from the wreck. La Rochelle was the departing port for Le Chameau, so these coins were likely the newest at the time it left. The coin shows strong frosty luster on its finely sandblasted surfaces. The left side of both sides shows pleasing multicolored toning. While the vast majority of French colonial types, including those listed in the Redbook, are collected just because of their American association - i.e., a good number of those types happen to circulate on American soil - the coins of Le Chameau definitively got here (or at least to within a few hundred feet). Louisbourg was twice conquered by New Englanders, once in 1744 and again in 1758. Today, it is a remarkable reconstructed historical site...Sold
A True 2 Bits - a 1/4 Cut Eight Reales, Plated in Pridmore
Early America / West Indies. One-Quarter cut portion of an 180- Carlos IV eight reales, a quarter dollar of its era. Very Fine or so. 110 grains / 7.13 grams. Nice old dark patina, consistent and untouched. The edges show the typical half-cut, half-torn look of most authentic 18th-19th century cut coins, bent up at one corner and a bit uneven, as made. Pridmore, in his still-standard masterwork on coins of the West Indies from 1965, plated this piece under Barbados as a representative as the cut coins authorized to circulated there after 1791. This piece is a bit overweight by the terms of that statute, and in truth it could have been cut (or circulated) anywhere. Most of the cut coins I've seen of this vintage (1st quarter of the 19th century) have come out of the Ohio River Valley, where cut coins (called "sharps" or "sharp money") circulated well into the 1830s. The amount of wear and style of cutting is consistent with that vintage, but who knows. Pridmore associated it with the West Indies, and he may had some context or provenance to suggest that. Most of the cut eight reales I sell were cut and marked in Curacao in the 1820s; they are actually 1/5 cuts rather than 1/4 cuts. True quarter cuts like this one are rare today. Ex. Pridmore (Glendining's, September 1981, Lot 294) to Edward Roehrs; Dix, Noonan, and Webb's sale of the Roehrs Collection, September 2010, Lot 255). This comes with a Pridmore ticket ... for a different coin - a very similar 1798 Dominican Three Bitts with which it was once confused...Sold
A Mexican Eight Reales, Regulated in America in the 17th Century and lost aboard the HMS Feversham
Mexico / Massachusetts. Cob eight reales of Phillip IV, P Assayer (ca. 1634-65). Fine or so, lightly granular from its time in the waters off Nova Scotia. 20.98 grams, 324.0 grains. Boldly plugged atop the cross and shield to bring the weight up to standard, probably at 17 or 17.5 pennyweights (this is presently 13.5 dwts, but it undoubtedly lost some of its weight while underwater). The surfaces are a mottled dark gray, a little darker in areas. The surfaces are not badly corroded, just a bit granular. A large natural planchet rift at 9:00 seems to have encouraged some light clipping in that area. This was likely plugged to the standards set by the Massachusetts Bay Colony ca. 1685-1701. It was lost aboard the HMS Feversham near Cape Breton Island after leaving New York in October 1711. Feversham was a warship on its way to attack Quebec. Before departing, it took on a deposit of ÂŁ569 12s 5d from the local New York treasury office. Most were cobs, but hundreds of pieces of Massachusetts silver were also found, suggesting the economic impact of the coins of Massachusetts Bay. This particular piece hit the market in the 1999 Stack's Americana sale as part of a consignment from the current divers (Lot 1190). More recently, it's from the Roehrs Collection, sold by DNW in September 2010 as Lot 340. As the earliest known American regulated coins, they hold special historical import. They are also the natural extension of a Massachusetts silver series. I wish I had a dozen more to sell...Sold
A Numismatic Guitar Pick
Mexico. One real of Carlos II, ca. 1665-1700. Fine. 1.5 grams. Nice even dark gray with a good bit of the CAROLUS monogram on the obverse and the cross on the reverse still visible. Struck on the weirdest planchet ever, almost the shape of a comma, but pretty perfect as a guitar pick. Not expensive, just cute...Sold
Netherlands, Holland. 1760 ducat. AU-58 (PCGS). Nice light yellow gold with good luster and flash, free of all but the most minor handling. This was one of the world’s major trade coins in the 18th century, welcome in payment from Java to Jenkintown. “The ducat of Holland” was one of the coins approved for use by the terms of Resolution of Congress of September 2, 1776. While some of the coins on the list likely rarely saw American shores, the Dutch became major trading partners at the dawn of the Revolution and their coins would have been frequent visitors to the nascent United States. American ships regularly plied the ports of the Dutch West Indies, and St. Eustatius was perhaps the most important smuggling center of the war. Along with Portuguese/Brazilian half Joes, Dutch ducats would have been plentiful. This is a nice example that would serve as an excellent type coin in a collection of gold relevant to early America...Sold
Mexico. 1760 MM eight reales. Mexico City mint. XF-45 (PCGS). Good cartwheel remains on light silver gray surfaces, lightly toned gold on both sides. Light hairlines suggest a now-ancient cleaning, but the luster and eye appeal remain intact. A little natural striation stretches from U of VTRAQUE to the crown, and an interesting die bulge is seen at D of IND on the reverse. A sharp and handsome example of the famed, classic Pillar dollar...Sold