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2021 Numismatic Year in Review

TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,740 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited December 22, 2021 10:24PM in World & Ancient Coins Forum

Interesting year, overall. With increasing prices since the start of the pandemic I was able to make a few bucks on some of my lesser pieces, which didn't help much offsetting the high premiums I ended-up paying when adding to my primary collection.

The year started with my discovery of a new variety in the Ferdinand VII Armored Bust series. NFC Coins listed a nice lustrous 1809-TH in PCGS 61 on eBay and imagine my surprise when I noticed that the first assayer initial was struck over an H (T/H). If you are familiar with these coins, you'll know it was quite common to re-use dies and over-date and over-assayer varieties are pretty abundant. For example, this portrait design was only used from 1808 to 1811, but there are 12 coins in the complete variety set. What was surprising is that it's commonly believed that the HJ assayer superseded TH, as can be seen by use of HJ/TH reverse dies in 1809, 1810 and 1811. While I'm not proposing that an HJ die was re-worked backwards into a TH one, the presence of the overstruck H is pretty clear. One possibility is that the die sinker erroneously punched the second assayer initial first and fixed it by filling and re-punching, as was often the practice. After discovering the NFC coin, I was able to track another example to confirm the variety and ended-up certifying both after also discussing my findings with Brad Yonaka.

1809-TH/HJ 8 Reales PCGS 61

The second example I found to confirm the variety ended-up grading VF35 at NGC with them indicating that they do not recognize this variety. That coin, while a very beat-up example, does show the overstruck letter better. Here you can see the MS61 and the VF side-by-side:


My second addition came from @Boosibri in the form of a Ferdinand VII 1808-TH in PCGS63. Not sure how I talked him into parting with it, but I'm glad I did. There are three minor portrait varieties in the Ferd VII Armored Bust series. This coin exhibits a Type A portrait, which is the most likely candidate for the first portrait design, as it occurs most frequently in 1808 and less so in 1809. This is also a sub-type with Ferdinand's mouth slightly open.

Speaking of tough varieties, I've been trying to find a problem-free example of an 18(2/1)0 for a while and finally spotted one unattributed in an old soapbox ANACS holder that ended-up certifying XF45. First one of this variety at PCGS, as well.

By the time August ANA rolled around, prices started to skyrocket. Out of 4 coins I had on my radar, only 1 came home with me. That's when we started seeing $4k+ for MS63 Carlos III portraits, $10k for a beautiful Carlos IV in 64, just to name a few. I ended-up adding a super-lustrous 1813-JJ in PCGS MS63+. Usually I don't go for these super bright types, but the cartwheel luster on this one makes it glow. Very happy with this addition.

When Plus Ultra sale took place in October, even with a number of pieces qualifying for my collection, I knew I could only effectively go after 1-2. After some consultation from MrEureka, I decided to focus all my efforts on winning a super-original and lustrous 1778-FF in NGC63+. Took some doing, but it ended-up coming home with me and consequently crossing at grade to PCGS (even keeping the +).

Being a varieties guy, I also bough a neat 1817 variety in the same Plus Ultra sale that I have not encountered before. The first digit of the date was added to the die to far to the left and was filled-in and repunched in the corrected spot. Don't believe this obverse die has been documented anywhere, so another neat first for me.

In August, my set was also selected for a Collector's Choice award as part of the 2021 Registry Toned Showcase Competition and with the winning prize of a $500 submission credit I finally decided to play the crack/resubmit game with a few coins from my set. The biggest win in that whole exercise was my Huntington Collection 1776 AU58 finally getting the well-deserved MS62 grade:

As part of this submission I also bumped a previous AU58 to MS61 (which was not the desired outcome by a mile, not pictured here) and finally added the Huntington Collection pedigree to another 1808 in the collection that was previously lacking it:

My most recent submission just posted and the last 2 additions for the year consist of an 1805/4 in AU58 with a colorful patina, luster, and what seems to be a partial edge clip and a tougher to find assayer combination 1812-HJ that downgraded by a point from NGC MS63 during the cross-over.

There's another undocumented variety coming to me from the states, but unfortunately not a Mexico City one. I will post about it once i do more research.

Overall, I was surprised that I was able to add as many coins as I did. It was not a cheap year, by any stretch, but overall I am pleased with the way I was able to advance my set.

To everyone who made it to the end - thank you for taking the time read this and hope you've enjoyed the recap of my journey this year.


8 Reales Madness Collection

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