As a novice I never saw 8 reales with stamps like these. The first one has a portuguese stamp coronated shield (Coin date ????). The second has a Minas stamp (960 reis). Date is hidden by stamp (Maybe 1812 ???). Stamps like these devaluate coins? Are there places where one can find estimated values for these type of coins?
The date of second coin must be 1792 or 1892 because Carolus IIII reigned from 1788 to 1808. So it can´t be 1812
Once again, please excuse me. Date of second coin must be 1792 or 1802. Floaters due to my bilateral cataract always cheating me when I´m typing.
Sorry I missed this post over here. For anyone else that might be interested, we discussed these coins at CCF.
If they are legit coins AND counterstamps, they can be more valuable. There are lots of counterfeits out there, so you should have someone look at them in person. Pictures don't always show everything. I bought one I thought was legit and ended up being counterfeit.
Does Swamperbob say on the other forum that if the countermark is genuine there WILL BE NO FLAT SPOT on the reverse or there WILL BE A FLAT SPOT? I read it several times and ....?
On CCF swamperbob said: "There is no obvious percussive impression on the reverse which is a common flaw on forgeries that were made recently" in reference to the supposed Portuguese countermark. He also said: "The Minas Gerais stamp was struck using a press that is incorrect. The image produced was categorically not made on a screw press produced in Portugal or Spain." These statements lead me to believe that genuine countermarks (official single-sided) and counterstamps (official double-sided) for both countries were applied with a screw press. A percussive impression would be made by a different technique (e.g. using a hammer press) that would typically leave a "rim of the percussive impact". The flat spot will always be created by the application of the single-sided countermark, regardless of the technique, slow-pressure in a screw press vs. quick-pressure in a hammer press, because the opposite side of the coin is on a harder, flat surface and will not yield to that kind of pressure, therefore it's the coin's reverse that will yield, creating the flat spot.
If you are interested in countermarks on Spanish Colonial coinage, join Numismatics International - several articles in the last year or so on this. You can read back issues of the NI Bulletin on the Newman Numismatic Portal (through 2016).
