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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Numismat, post: 1329154, member: 15019&quot;]There has always been controversy surrounding the Galapagos Islands &quot;RA&quot; countermark on late 1800&#039;s/early 1900&#039;s Ecuadorian silver coins. One theory is that they were made by a wealthy merchant, another is that they were used to pay prisoners, and yet another is that it&#039;s a modern fantasy altogether.</p><p>Please note this item and seller: <a href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FECUADOR-RARE-1897-1-SUCRE-CROWN-COUNTERMARK-GALAPAGOS-ISLAND-%2F150723149406%3Fpt%3DLH_DefaultDomain_0%26hash%3Ditem2317ccbe5e" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FECUADOR-RARE-1897-1-SUCRE-CROWN-COUNTERMARK-GALAPAGOS-ISLAND-%2F150723149406%3Fpt%3DLH_DefaultDomain_0%26hash%3Ditem2317ccbe5e" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/itm/ECUADOR-RARE-1897-1-SUCRE-CROWN-COUNTERMARK-GALAPAGOS-ISLAND-/150723149406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&amp;hash=item2317ccbe5e</a></p><p><br /></p><p>He has consistently been selling them for the past few years. I&#039;m not proud of this, but about a year ago I ended up buying three of the smaller countermarked coins from this seller and reselling them. Recently I&#039;ve been doing more research on this and have only seen 1 example sold in a major auction (<a href="http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=332&amp;lotNo=11605" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=332&amp;lotNo=11605" rel="nofollow">http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=332&amp;lotNo=11605</a>). That one had significant differences in the countermark compared to this seller&#039;s coins. The ones they sell are very consistent and all the countermarks look perfect regardless of the condition of the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>In fact, I have yet to find any example where the countermark shows natural wear, which goes against the first two theories. Also, I&#039;ve never seen one graded by any major TGP.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, I just went and pulled a little stunt and asked the seller about buying a larger lot of these. He informed me he had a few on hand, but indicated he can get more if I was interested. This supposedly endless supply is a huge red flag IMO.</p><p>Also found it interesting that the story in his descriptions combines the first two theories. I&#039;ve never seen that anywhere else in the research I&#039;ve done.</p><p><br /></p><p>This seems to be a case where someone fashioned a modern countermark punch and is putting it on regular and much cheaper Ecuadorian coins. The seller also sells the regular coins side by side with the countermarked ones. It&#039;s something that has lore, controversy, and no real facts attached and the seller has been able to take advantage for years without anyone challenging his coins or story.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as the question of the legitimacy of the Galapagos Islands countermark in general: There&#039;s no evidence from the time period they were supposedly circulated, but there are records of them from before this seller and countermark type first appeared.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Heritage auction from 2003 shows that people were catching on to it even before this seller started out, but they have been successful with it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thoughts?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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