Featured Coins of the Newly Independent Latin American Republics - Chile's Volcano Coinage.

Nice and one year type rare coin in really good condition!!

 

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Can I sneak in some other countries.........

 

Beautiful example, Gallienus!
I have yet to add coins from Ecuador to my Latin American collection.
Early coinage from Ecuador is generally quite scarce, and this is one type that I would like to add.

 

I bid hard to get this recent purchase as an upgrade for the Colombia 8 reales that I posted earlier in this thread. My apologizes, if I outbid any members here, but decent examples of the first 8 reales of the newly independent Republic of Colombia (aka Gran Colombia) are very scarce and, in my opinion, worth acquiring at premium valuations. It is such an early issue that it still bears the "Nueva Granada" legend -- a legacy title from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada and shows "Libertad Americana" in place of a national title.

 

A beautiful and very historic piece. Below is my companion piece, issued in the name of the Province of Cudinamarca. Cudinamarca was the largest of the 3 Departments of Gran Colombia at this time.

It had existed as a free & independent State since Independence from Spain in 1810 until Bolivar dictated that it join the United Provinces in 1814. In 1815 a large Spanish Force restored it to Spanish Colonial rule. In 1820 it became free again. Thus in 1819 they were using the proper name for the Spanish Colony

purchased in 2014.
It seems to have the same kind of flat flan flaw (6:00 obv edge) as does your specimen of Neuva Granada. Although I've bid on a number of these, the one above from Cudinamarca is the only one that I've ever gotten.

 

Amazing coin!

 

I bid on many pieces of the Lissner sale. Unfortunately I did not bid directly but used an intermediary. This proved to be a disaster as while they [dealers] bought for themseles some classic rarities, all they got for me was junk.

In some cases they appear not to have even looked at the coins they bought for me. While a good idea for ancients, using experienced dealers in foreign auctions, in modern coins it's not so effective. All of the major pieces I bid on, they lost for me. This was one of the few specialty auctions I did not attend in person.

I'm sure I bid on some odd mint Peruvian rarities like Arequipa & the Pasco mint but don't recall winning anything of those.

 

A while back, I acquired a holed example of the United Provinces of Rio de La Plata (8 Reales) for something like $20. Not the prettiest example, but for the price, I wasn't really in a position to argue.

 

Does anybody out there have what I call a MOBY DICK 8•Escudos to show? It sure would fit nicely amongst this display of early Latin American Republican coinages.

 

@Gallienus can you describe the edge design on the 1813 and 1815 issues from Potosi? Mine is encapsulated in a way the completely hides the edge.

 

Neither my high grade 1813 nor my 1815 8R or 8R/S are slabbed. However, I have no photos handy and the Janson book [2006] incredibly has not a single edge photo. These coins are both at the bank and I'll have to go & get them for photos.

I do have the Alex Seigle [Stacks 2018 NYICS] 1837/6 Sunface 8R (La Roija mint) kicking around at home but it's in an older tight fitting slab (NGC-55) and no edge can be seen in this kind of slab. This was the very last year of the Sunface design and you can tell they were getting tired of making them as the strike is awful. I'll try to get photos of the 1813 & 1815 edges posted in the next couple of days.

 

Thanks @Gallienus. From photos of obverse and reverse I can see many examples with wavy rims similar to what you see with the older pillar dollar issues from the Spanish American mints. I'm curious if the edge design is also the same and I wonder why that is so since the Potosi mint had been producing issues with the square and circle motif that had become the standard in 1772. The mint staff employed by the Spanish had to retreat in the face of revolutionaries taking Potosi in 1813 and 1815. It would make sense that they took their dies with them when they evacuated the mint, including the edging dies, to prevent counterfeits from being issued. It's plausible that they left behind some older, out-of-date material that the die makers employed by the revolutionaries reused.

 

My favorite motto - "Por Razón, o La Fuerza", By Reason or Force. Like saying, "We don't care how we get power - either you'll agree with us, or we'll just take it!"

 

An edge photo was posted at CU

 

Beautiful coin! Congrats!

 

Okay here they are ==> a collection of edges. Sorry for the delay but my wife complains that I'm slow but thorough in everything!

Argentina, 1813 8 R, PTS, scalloped edge


Argentina, 1815 8 S over R, PTS, scalloped edge


Argentina, 1832 4 S, slanted reeded edge


Chile, 1817 FJ 1 Peso, scalloped edge


Central American Republic, 1824 8R, box and circle edge


Colombia, Province of Cudinamarca 1820 8R, crude box and circle edge


Colonial Mexico, 1758 8R, scalloped edge


I can also state that an Argentine "Rebel Peso", 1840 LaRioja, has a crude vertical reeded edge. A Colonial Mexican 8R, 1794, has a "box and circle edge".

I also got accurate weights and diameters of the above. Noteworthy is that the Cudinamarca is light at 23.648g. Chile was the heaviest at 27.230 g.

 

@Gallienus, what a fantastic look at the edge designs of colonial and post-colonial silver! This "third side" needs to be to documented, after all, the purpose of the edge design was to make these issues difficult to counterfeit and shave. Knowing the correct appearance of the edge is as important for authentication as the obverse and reverse.

 

Thanks for the comments. Very nice Escudo of Cuzco, Peru, 1840-A. I should add that I like this design very much --perhaps due to never finding a decent Standing Liberty Quarter for 20 years while a US collector?** Also one auction where I went in person but made the error of buying too little was the Millenium Auction in Los Angles in 2008. There I inspected in person and bought the PCGS-62 Cuzco 1840-A, 8 escudos. It has similar proof-like surfaces to your 1 Es. It's my personal belief that these coins are always undergraded by the slabbers compared with USA gold coins. My 1840-Cz has no friction/ wear, no hairlines, no major marks yet is only a 62!!!?? I also attempted to buy the Peru ms gold in Eliasberg in 2005 but this short fat guy bought every single one.

I also attempted to do an analysis of mintages of these things in gold. My guess is these coins were made for very limited Peruvian Gov't salaries in gold. Or maybe they just had gold in the region and coined it into something so as to get the gold assay, coining fee, and taxes paid?

Very nice coin: I only have a circ 1 Es from Peru but it's the rare date 1850 in pcgs-58. I think it's the Hammel coin which was listed as an unc back in '82.

**For years I always admired SL Quarters but I never see them except for occasional specimens worn absolutely flat. Then yesterday I found I won a pcgs-65, 1925 piece, from a $240 bid thrown into an auction.

 

This is about the only coin I have from that area and era. I would love to get one of the Chilean coins as in the OP, or any volcano coins.

 

I'd like to show a picture of that 960 reis piece. This coin belong to a friend of mine from São Paulo and he told me that this coin went striked twice; first with 09 on date and after with 10 on date. This 960 Reis went striked in a 8 Reales coin (spanish). The images was sent from his Cellular and don't be good enough. I'm sorry if I'm being inopportune and apologize by my poor english.