The Spanish 1737 2 real coin was given to me by my father a while back, his neighbor had given it to him when he was a boy. Slightly off-center on one side, it has a small black spot on what I assume is the obverse. The edge is nice, and you can see the reeding all the way around the edge, showing that none has been shaved off. The British 1673 three pence has what looks like a flan flaw or something on the obverse at 5 o'clock, slightly visible from the reverse as well. Other than that, the detail is quite nice, Chas's little moustache is visible, as well as a berry or two in the laureate. I know that the flan flaw decreases the value, because I got it for a pretty low price. Can anyone give me an idea of how much it is worth, as well as how much it would be worth was it not for the flaw.? I have more pictures if needed. Thanks -rexesq
I see, sounds good to me. Thanks for your help. Would you happen to know the fineness of the silver of the Spanish 2 reales? And would I be correct to assume that the English 1673 3d is .925 fine? I was also wondering about this Groningen 1691 6 stuivers. It has a dent, or a punchmark at 3 o'clock on the reverse. And does anyone know the fineness of the silver in this one? Thanks again.
The two, one and half reale pieces were struck in .8333 silver. Yes the British coin is .925 silver. As for the Netherlands coin, all that Krause ever says is - composition silver. But you can bet that it was a low grade silver. Many of the mints struck this denomination in billon, and they would not be very far apart on fineness. In that condition value is probably $30 or less.
Great. Thanks again for your help, it is much appreciated. Were the four and eight real pieces struck in a different silver content? rexesq
Originally the silver fineness for Spanish colonial silver, 8 & 4 reales, was .9305. In 1728 it was reduced to .9166. In 1771 it was reduced again to .9027.
Interesting. I have one more to ask about... it is a Spanish colonial 1779-ME MJ two reales. Now I know that most late 18th century Spanish colonial two reale coins are not very valuable in low grades, but I was just wondering if this was a rare date or mintmark, perhaps? Also, I have been told that the 'ME' mintmark stands for 'Medina' and is for Lima, Peru. Is this correct? Thanks again. rexesq
What looks like ME is actually LIMAE, and yes it includes all of the letters stamped over top one another. Yes it is Lima. And no, it is not a scarce date or mint mark. Value in that condition is maybe $15.
Even with the flan flaw? LIMAE, I see, interesting. Well now I at least know what mint to write on the envelope. Thanks again. rexesq
The 1673 3 pence is listed as following in the 41st Edition of Spink: F: $12, VF: $40, EF: $150 The 3rd Eddition of The Standard Catalog of World Coins: VG: $6.00, F: $10.00, VF: $22.00, EF: $45.00 Some recent auctions on eBay of that type: 1672/1 3d (360036578092) = $8.00 1675 3d (120243754387) = $6.01 1684 3d (270223597988) = $35.53 I guess with luck you could get $30-40 US Cheers, Stefan
Thanks alot. I don't take it that they list a mintage for any of the above coins I've posted, do they? rexesq
No they do not. Spanish colonial mints did not keep track of mintage numbers, they kept track of the total weight of the slver minted in a given year and that covered all denominations.
