1/8 Peso ?

wayfarer

Today received this interesting coin.

BOLIVIA, Potosi, Silver 1/8 peso (?), (ca. 1863)

Obv.: downward-flying dove with olive branch in beak, thematically the same as 1843 issues but with cursive, J.MdeA below and within legend A SU EXCIA EL PRESIDENTE DE LA REPUBLICA
Rev.: ship sailing right under legend EL COMERCIO D POTOSI
18mm, 2,5 g, Burnett-132; Fonrobert-9462c
Burnett and Fonrobert both considered this a 1 sol but the denomination system at the time was in pesos and this appears to be smaller and more accurately a 1/8 peso

Does anyone have more information about this coin? Was it an official edition?

Thank you in advance for a note!

pruebas

Burnett and Fonrobert seem to be the references for this type of medallic issue.
If you are going to NYINC, you might want to run it by Paul Bosco. He used to deal in this type of thing back in the 1980s and might be able to help.

I believe most of these issues are pretty scarce.

pruebas

I looked up a few of these in Stacks Jan 2012 sale, where I remembered a group of them sold.

For example, a 1/2 Sol (1835) was 16.7mm and 1.7g silver. And a Sol (1848) was 21.6mm and 5.2g silver. Another Sol (1853) was 20mm and 3.68g silver. As the sizes and weights are all over the place, maybe there was no real attempt to align them with coin denominations?

By the way, I bought this one out of that sale just because I liked it. No date (~1841), 30.2mm and 14.48g silver. I think all of these are a cool area to collect.

wayfarer

Thank you very much for your answer, your coin is really cool!

Sapyx

For those who don't know, as it hasn't been mentioned in the thread yet: these are called "proclamation pieces". They are a peculiarly Spanish and Latin American phenomenon and fall into that strange, sparsely-inhabited grey area somewhere in between "coins", "medals" and "tokens".

They were often (though not always) produced at official government mints, and often using the exact same weight and fineness standards as official coinage - even sometimes using actual coinage blanks. Thus, "coins".

They were privately commissioned, to commemorate various events of national importance. The wealthy person commissioning them covered the production cost entirely; they would have had to either provide the silver bullion or pay for the silver for the purpose. Thus, "medals".

They were distributed freely to the public, on the official "proclamation" ceremony of noteworthy events such as a new king, a declaration of independence, or a new constitution. To the recipients, many treated them as "free money" and spent them; as they were physically similar and functionally identical to official coins, they were treated as such. It was certainly the intent that the items be used as money, if the recipient wished to do so. They certainly saw circulation alongside the regular coinage. Thus, "tokens".

As they aren't technically legal tender coins issued on government orders, they are not listed in the mainstream world coin catalogues. If one has to nail them down into one of the three numismatic pigeonholes, they are usually filed under "medals".

I personally like them, though I only own two. I see them as the modern-day descendants of the ancient Roman "congiarium" coinage.

Namvet69

Very interesting, thanks. Roy

wayfarer

Thank you very much for the information, @Sapyx