Mexican and Related 8 Reales Coins: Coin Turn or Medal Turn?
giorgio11
Posts: 3,906 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was just listing one of my 8 reales on eBay (I've given up on the BST for the most part), an 1839-Go PJ in AU55 PCGS, and noticed something odd about it: It is struck in "medal turn" like British coins, where the tops of each side are directly opposite each other. U.S coins are normally struck in "coin turn," where the top of one side is directly opposite the bottom of the other side. To say it another way, to view U.S. coins right-side-up in a PCGS slab, you turn them over from top to bottom; British coins, and this 1839 8 reales, are seen right-side-up by turning the slab over from side to side.
I rapidly checked the nearly dozen other 8 reales and 1 peso coins I have, and all are struck in coin turn. Do Ye Experts in the series have any idea or generalities about which coins were struck in medal turn and which in coin turn? @Boosibri @7Jaguars @TwoKopeiki @Yorkshireman
A gentleman on another forum replied that he had an 1834-Go and it was also struck in medal turn ...
What say ye?
Kind regards,
George
Comments
Several of the mints were leased by British enterprises, including Guanajuato. Perhaps they followed British custom (either knowingly or unknowingly)?
Colonial Mexican reales were all medal turn. I don't know about the cap and rays series, but looking at Heritage sold items it looks like you start seeing coin turn pieces in 1840, and by 1845 they are all coin turn.
I'm running out of the door, but the Republic Mints each had their own standard prior to the adoption of the standardized dies out of Mexico City later on and each switched to coin alignment at different times. Off the top of my head, Zacatecas did it in 1842 and Guanajuato in 1843. This info should be in Resplandores.
8 Reales Madness Collection
Interesting info ... I was perusing Resplandores yesterday but didn't find anything ... but OTOH my attention span is not what it used to be ... where's my iPhone? @pruebas @TwoKopeiki
Kind regards,
George
Hi. Not just the mints had their own standards, but imported dies were not uncommon, particularly British. I am actually surprised the the series is so "uniform" given the geographical and political considerations.
Mint technology is not my forte. I assume that die pairs in general in the modern era will fit only one way, be it coin turn or medal turn, so as to prevent free rotation of the dies and all sorts of degrees of rotation of one side with respect to the other? @Boosibri @pruebas @Abuelo @TwoKopeiki
Kind regards,
George
I think that information is in the introduction, pages XVII to XIX of RESPLANDORES where they discuss the production of 8 reales.
@Coinrunner1 Interesting. So what the heck is that doodad? Looks kinda like the back of some spurs I had when I was a kid.
Kind regards,
George
I think it's a pie / pastry crimper.
8 Reales Madness Collection