Boosibri's 2025 Year in Review
Boosibri
Posts: 12,663 ✭✭✭✭✭
Waking up this morning well in advance of the rest of the family, I decided it is the perfect time to write this year "Year in Review". If you asked me at the start of the year, what would be the key themes would be for the acquisitions of the year, I'm sure I would have been dead wrong. Which I suppose goes to show that you take the shots that you have, when they come up. If you don't you risk being shut out.
In the unexpected column:
A 1931 Irish proof set. Unexpected due to the fact that these are so dang rare and from what I can gather, most if not all of the silver pieces are undocumented outside of the British Museum.
Minors. I sold off my minors over the past few years and this year added some back but all as a part of a distinct set.
The aforementioned distinct sets: I made substantial progress on the 1867-1868 Chilean pattern/proof sets which I have been researching for a few years. The Henry Christensen estate quietly came to market (and still is) via Heritage. A large swath of Chilean patterns hit towards the middle to end of the year and I decided to add to the two crown sized coins I already had. I added the 1/2 decimo, decimo, 20C, 5P and 10P in copper and a silver decimo. There all have mintages in the single digits with the 20C being the most rare with a mintage of 2. This one ex. Brand/Norweb.
More Chilean patterns: There was a very very rare 1910 Chilean peso pattern in silver which I can find no documentation of, including in the Casa de Moneda in Santiago. I also added from the Christensen group the 1926 Indian design 5 peso's both with and without fineness. These are crown sized and fit my primary set, but also key to the Chilean pattern set. I guess I am collecting Chilean Patterns now.
In the more expected column, I added five Latin American crowns which fit my type set perfectly:
1892/0 Honduras Peso in 66 from the Eternal Collection. I first noted the type in the Cape Coral sale but didn't love the coin in that sale. This piece is finer with wonderful luster though still a weak central strike which plagues the issue. One of the first for the type. I missed on the coins I wanted earlier in the sale, and upped my bid late to go harder after this coin to avoid being shut out. Glad I recalibrated, even if a little late.
1838-Areq 8 Reales: The 8 Reales from the Arequipa Peru mint are all rare and some in two different designs, the Surface and the Standing Liberty. I have the 1839 Liberty from the Newman sale and I have been after a nice Surface design. The 1838 is the most common date for that type but still is very difficult and likely has a dozen or so extant, most in poor condition. This lovely EF45 was picked up at Heritage early in the year.
1862-So 8 Reales: The 1862-So 8 Reales is the rarest date for the type with so few appearing over the last 20 years. This coin came from a UK auction and is graded AU58. I did't need this coin for type, but I have never seen another for the date so I bought it.
1751 Guatemala 8 Reales: I never intended to add cobs to my crown set, but when MrEureka made mention of how outstanding this coin was, I thought hard about it, but ultimately didn't pass a bid, wanting to save funds for the Eternal collection. Well I missed badly (more on that later) at the Eternal sale and another friend ended up purchasing the Guatemalan Cob. He sold it to me for a small profit and upon seeing it, I am extremely happy to have landed it.
The star of the year and a coin which is certainly in the top 5 for my collection is the 1755/1 Chilean Pillar 8 Reales. I have posted a detailed write-up on this coin and the census for it and all other Santiago dates. The coin came up towards the end of the year in Sincona and was a once in a decade or more opportunity to add an uncompromising Chilean Pillar in such high grade. Truth be told, there may only be 3 coins of any date in this degree of quality: The Brand/Lissner 1758, and the 1758 Kent Ponterio sourced from Europe and sold at Stacks around 2021. This piece is more rare for sure as a date.
Thanks to @MrEureka who advised or sourced most of these coins.
Swings and misses:
The Eternal sale was a swing and a miss despite adding one coin (the Honduras Peso). I was after the Chilean Portales Pattern which I figured for $30-$40,000. I had a $50,000 bid and the coin sold for about $70,000. I wanted that coin badly and there are only 5 extant. In retrospect, I probably should have stretched. If it was later in the sale, I may have recalibrated to the exceptionally strong prices being realized. In the end, this miss left me with ample funds to chase the Chilean Pillar which posted a month or two after the ANA sale.
1904 Panama 50c proof at Sedwick. This beautiful proof set was sadly broken up after being together since its minting. I only wanted the 50c crown sized coin and bid very strongly only to underbid the set to a collector in Panama. The price realized was beyond the limits of reason (including mine) and the feeling of loss experienced on the Chilean Portales pattern was absent this time around.
Research:
I love the research aspects of the hobby and always strive to tie the provenance of my coins to historical collections.
My primary research has been to date on the 1867-1868 Chilean proof patterns which is progressing towards the point of having an article to publish. In adding the rare 20C and silver decimals, I ticked off two coins which I had hoped to acquire before publishing so as to not drive the prices before I complete the set.
In purchasing the 1755/1-So 8 Reales, I undertook the task of documenting all of the Chilean Pillar 8 Reales, a task which seems very large, but was in fact relatively simple given Carlos Jara's past work and the fact that I have been collecting images for several years.
A look ahead to next year... There is one coin on the horizon in January which could make the year (and take me out of commission for the rest of the year). But, as 2025 and every other year goes to show, things never go as planned.
The Coins:
Comments
Excellent write up as usual Brian. Fun read.
All terrific coins……but to me the Santiago 8R and the cob are just unreal.
Congrats on a great numismatic year.
Outstanding writeup. You picked up some truly amazing coins this year.
I think I have an inkling of what coin you might be going after in January - wish you the best in that pursuit as well as the rest of your 2026!
Great write up.
I felt a strong loss when you missed the Portales too. I laid off that coin for another collector in the CNG sale back when the Eternal collector bought it (almost two decades ago). Turns out, that collector took a long lunch and missed bidding on it, so we both lost it to the Eternal bidder. I had a sort of personal interest in that coin.
In your chasing the Chilean patterns I think you’ve come to see how tough collecting a set of these Latin American patterns really is. Pick your country, it’ll be a lifetime of challenge and likely still never complete.
Interesting that you liked the Eternal Honduran Peso more than the Cape Coral example. The later had a great eye and the means to obtain the best coins, whereas the former didn’t. So the fact he got the better Peso is a bit surprising.
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The Cape Coral coin. Better strike but to me the luster was flat and the coin likely once conserved.
The coin I bought. Weaker strike but full luster.
Latin American Collection
Absolutely lovely coins! I really love the Pillar 8 Reales in AU 58! What a year sir!
Just from the online photos you posted, I prefer the Cape Coral coin all day. But that's probably because the strike detail shows in a photo whereas luster does not.
I've noticed other coins that have poor strikes but high luster and NGC rewards them with a high grade (In fact, I was chasing one but let it go because I didn't grade the coin as high as NGC did due to the strike). It seems to be a thing with them.
Anyway, we are splitting hairs here as they are both far and away above most others.
All lovely, but I am thunderstruck by that Pillar dollar!
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.