new spanish coin pics
Zulan
Posts: 224
I cannot figure out the one coin from 1825. It does not match any descriptions of spanish coins that I can find.
Zulan
Zulan
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Your host coin is of course a Spanish 2-reales coin struck in Seville, but the countermark was done in the 1840's. It's referred to as the "lattice" countermark, and was done for the provinces of Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba. Spain had by that time lost many of her Central and South American colonies and their mints, and this caused a shortage of coinage in Cuba. The countermark was done to indicate the devaluing of the coin from its old colonial value to its newer inflationary value. I knew when I saw the counterstamp that it was an official mark of some kind, from the Caribbean region. As I had thought (even before I knew exactly what the mark was), this is one instance where the "damage" to the coin (the countermark) actually increases its numismatic value rather than the opposite. Some countermarks are "good damage"- often very good!
In this case, the counterstamp only added a little value, but I'm sure that'll be welcome news to you, anyway.
The host coin (without the countermark) is cataloged under Spain as KM#460.3, with second edition values being $8.00 VG / $16.00 F / $25 VF / $40 EF.
With the lattice countermark, as yours is, it is cataloged under Cuba as KM#6, with values being $10.00 G / $20.00 VG / $30.00 F / $45.00 VF.
Grading by either the host coin or the counterstamp itself, I would say you have a strong VG, personally- almost but not quite Fine.
A very interesting coin. Thanks for the riddle- I learned something, too.
As to the cob, it isn't a full "piece of eight". I would have said it was a 1-real piece based on the size, but the big numeral "2" on it would indicate it's a 2-real coin. Looks like 1759 to me. I'm not so good at attributing these.
I know that the cob was not a real "piece of eight", but really a 2-real coin, but its from the same era as pieces of eight. I did not grow up watching cheezy pirate movies with leering pirates screaming "pieces of two!!" So in my mind it is a 2-real cob, in my heart it will always be a gleaming "piece of eight". And I am keeping a weather eye out for those darn pirates. It's MY piece of eight!
Zulan
Since Krause does not have an Instant Identifier for countermarks as they do for coats-of-arms and other features of a coin, the Cuban countermarked piece you had was a bit of a challenge. In the end, I think I used the keywords "countermarked reales" on a Google search and then got lucky when I hit a numismatic site on the second or third try. That particular site mentioned the words "lattice countermark". While that site was discussing a different type of coin, I noticed it was a site on Cuban coins, so I decided to check the Cuban section of Krause. Got lucky, there.
An illustrated list of known (official) countermarks would be very handy to have. I'm not sure if such a list or book exists, but if it doesn't, somebody needs to compile one. It would be a nice addition to the Krause.
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
<< <i>An illustrated list of known (official) countermarks would be very handy to have. I'm not sure if such a list or book exists, but if it doesn't, somebody needs to compile one. It would be a nice addition to the Krause. >>
Frank Gilboy's book contains just such a section. Of course it only applies to the subject matter of the book - columnarios of 1732 - 1772.