1914 C.A.M. El Salvador Proofs - an ongoing search

Boosibri

The business strike 1914 CAM (Central American Mint) El Salvador pesos, featuring the bust of Christopher Columbus, were minted in Philadelphia, and are quite common today. In addition to the business strikes, 20, 4 coin proof sets were struck with peso, 20c, 10c and 5c, housed in a presentation frame made by Tiffany & Co.

Often the auction write-ups “estimate” 20 minted. The 1915 Mint Annual report notes 2,100,020 pesos minted, which seems like a reasonable source to conclude that in fact 20 proofs were struck.

I recently acquired a proof Peso for my crown set, which came from the Millennia collection, then Cape Coral.

As with all of the coins I own, I try and trace the provenance of the coin, and generally post here when complete with the search. Not, this time, the search is still on, but wanted to share the coin, and the examples found to date.

The first example of a proof that I have found is in the 1941 Walter Webb fixed price list, noting a proof peso for $5. No picture, and no help other than to see that even early on, these sets were either broken up, or not always sold as sets.

The 1963 sale of the Kurt Prober collection is the only example I can find with not just the set intact, but housed in the original Tiffany frame under glass.

Between 1963 and 1989, I have yet to find a sale including one of these coins. In the 1989 Stacks sale, there is another set offered with a very attractive Peso with a planchet issue noted at 6’oclock

Then the Millennia coin in 2008, along with a series of more recent sales:

Same coin at Stacks recently

Lastly, there is the Richard Stuart coin, which was also part of a full set. I know where the Stuart minors are, and tempting as it is, I have yet to buy them to also form a set.

So, of the 20 known, maybe 6 identified, and still looking for earlier examples of the Millennia coin. If you come across one, please let me know!

coinkat

excellent write up- good luck with the ongoing investigation

krueger

I have collected these pesos business strikes for at least thirty years. I have the number two NGC registry set
1892 tru 1914., 6 pop tops.
Over the years I have seen a handful of the proof pesos though i do not own
A point of disagreement. For those of us who collect these we can tell a type 1 bust early dated pieces versus later dated bust pieces noted as type 2. By sight. The 1914 was struck in the U.S. as a type 2 and in Belgium ( supposedly as a type 1).
Germam ww1 take over and occupation of Belgium in 1914 undoubly most were melted.
There are old auction records of the Belgium pieces exsisting. Though I have never seen one or one for sale.
Then one day not to long ago NGC started identifying the 1914'S as either a wide right shoulder or narrow right shoulder. Where this came from I know not, old catalogs say the width of shoulder ends across are different for type 1 versus type 2. This true. Smaller bust vesus larger bust. There are other easy by sight ways to tell one from another without a measurement if by sight of bust alone fails you. So now the NGC says narrow right shoulder is the Belgium strike and is in the Registry set position. I see no difference in one labeled wide right shoulder versus one labeled narrow right shoulder. Either one are NOT a ype 1. How this could be measured can be conjured up more than several ways. Who knows?? I have seen nothing published except these miss identified slab labels.
I believe this is a big TPG mistake.
Anyone -- have any more information on this mystery.