Basic Guide: CAR silver coins: Costa Rica, Guatemala & Honduras

Analyst

The "Central American Republic" was not really a republic; it was a loose federation, mostly an alliance for security and military purposes. The coins are really neat, among my favorites in the whole world.

Although I have examined and written about the rarest dates in the past, I enjoyed writing a basic article this week that is mostly about type coins. I hope that more collectors will discover 19th century Central American coins, which are rare, attractive and modestly valued.

Even forum members who are not interested in reading my article may be inclined to share their thoughts about CAR silver coins. Has anyone formed a silver type set?

Silver Coins of the Central American Republic

insightful10@gmail.com

Jackthecat1

Very interesting article.

MrEureka

The nicest quality 8 Reales I have seen. Not my coin.

Boosibri

Boosibri

For those interested, I recently worked with PCGS to create a CAR basic type set of silver and gold coins which can be accessed here:



http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/composite.aspx?c=6241

Stork

Interesting article! Hard not to love that sunface.

Analyst

BoosiBri: " I recently worked with PCGS to create a CAR basic type set of silver and gold coins which can be accessed here:"

Well, this is not a category for a "CAR basic type set." It is, as stated in the PCGS registry, a "denomination set," really just a list of denominations. In the history of coins, there is, in some cases, more than one design type of the same denomination. While there logically can and should be some debate regarding which CAR design types amount to separate basic types, it is not educational to just ignore the differences in the respective designs of coins of the same denominations.

If someone is to maintain that the designs are so similar that the only distinct design types are the denominations, an explanation would be needed, as that would be an unusual and counter-intuitive perspective. The Krause guides for example, list multiple types for each denomination of CAR silver coins.

In my article, I mention reasons why some varieties constitute distinct design types and others are just die varieties. IMO, it is rather apparent that there is more than one 'basic' design type of CAR Two Reales coins. As for CAR One Real coins, those of the first type (my #4) are around 90% silver and have a reverse design that is really different from the reverse design of those of the second type (my #5), which is specified to be 75% silver.

While collecting one coin of each CAR denomination may be a wonderful project, would it be a good idea to represent such a "denomination set" as a type set?

In any event, we all may agree that BoosiBri has some excellent coins in his collection.

Boosibri

Analyst: My goal is to increase the awareness and popularity of these coins and of other types like the Argentinian "Sunface" type which are being worked on now as new PCGS registry sets. The creation of a "denomination" set seemed like a more fitting way of increasing interest versus adding the sub-design types which most collectors will find prohibitively esoteric. Similarly with the Argentinian set I have proposed a denomination set as I doubt many collectors will want to pursue Real's and Soles for the same denomination. Perhaps that series can be a future article for you. They are also working on a Spanish Colonial 8 Reales type set of Pillars and Portraits as well as denomination sets for Charles III and Charles IIII. Hopefully they are done in the next month.



I hope that people find and appreciate these cool designs and begin to more avidly collect them. As for the semantics of what the registry set is called, we called it a "denomination" set in the registry, I referred to it as a basic type set as it excludes the sub-types, I am not really bothered with the semantics, rather just in driving demand into this interesting collecting territory.

MrEureka

As many of you know, I've been collecting CAR pretty seriously for 20+ years.

FWIW, I would suggest that anyone interested in these coins spend some time studying the non-CAR coins of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras, for the CAR era and surrounding years. Keep in mind that just because KM treats the CAR as a single coin-issuing entity, the individual countries thought of themselves as five different countries, with no central authority dictating what coins each country should issue.

MrEureka

Let's play with this a bit.

Take a look at the CAR-style issues of Guatemala. We have:

1/4 Real - Many scattered issues from 1824 to 1851.

1/2 Real - 1824 only

1 Real - 1824 and 1828. (The 1828 is very scarce and not as well made as the 1824. I have not yet decided if I think the 1828 is an official issue or a contemporary counterfeit. Probably need to see a really nice one before I decide.)

2 Reales - Nada.

4 Reales - Nada.

8 Reales - Many scattered issues from 1824 to 1847.

1/2 Escudo - 1824, 1825, 1826 and 1843. (Strange that there's an 1843, isn't it?)

Escudo - 1824, 1825

2 Escudos - Many scattered issues 1825-47. (Strange that there's no 1824.)

4 Escudos - 1824, 1825, 1826

8 Escudos - 1824, 1825

I would infer from the above that the vast majority of coins that circulated in Guatemala during this time period were issued by other countries, which would be mostly Spanish Colonial. And this is confirmed, in a sloppy circumstantial sort of way, when you look at the many listed Guatemala counterstamped issues of 1838-41, all silver. (Before 1838, these same types of coins would have circulated without countermarks.) And I would speculate that after the initial flurry of Guatemala-minted CAR coinage in 1824-25, CAR issues were produced mostly due to various shortages of foreign coins of specific denominations.

MrEureka

Now let's try Honduras.



There's an 1824 1 Real and 1825 2 Reales, both of a distinctive design likely produced in Honduras before Guatemala provided the standard CAR style hub punches and/or dies.

We have a few extremely rare issues of 1825 in the usual CAR style, which are probably patterns and possibly made in Guatemala. (I wouldn't even mention these if they weren't listed in KM.)

There is an 1830 1/2 Real, 1830 1 Real, and 2 Reales from 1831 and 1832, in the usual CAR style.

And that is it, unless you're willing to consider the many CAR-style issues in the name of the "Estado de Honduras", which are listed in KM under Honduras. As far as I'm concerned, these are every bit as much CAR issues as the Guatemala and Costa Rica issues of the same style, even though the legend is dfferent. Some were issued while officially part of the Federation (1823-39), some issued later, but all are part of the same series of coins. (These coins are almost always low grade and ugly, so most collectors are happy to ignore them.)

MrEureka

Now, for a little bit of a change of pace, let's cover El Salvador. Although part of the CAR from 1823 to roughly 1839, it did not issue coins in the CAR-style. Instead, it issued a series of silver "Volcano" 1/4 to 4 Reales, all dated 1828-35. Like the "Estado de Honduras" issues, these coins did not bear the name of the CAR, but they are still issues of the CAR. And like Guatemala (and Costa Rica), El Salvador also countermarked coins of other countries, officially validating them for use in El Salvador.

MrEureka

Now, Costa Rica.

While part of the CAR, 1823-1838, and for more than a decade beyond, it issued the following in the CAR style:

1/4 Real, 1845 only.

1/2 Real, 1831-49, seven different years.

1 Real, 1831, and then again in 1848-49.

2 Reales, 1849 only, with less than 10 known.

8 Reales, 1831 only. (Many of these are struck over other coins, although not obviously.)

1/2 Escudo, 1828, 1843 (a rarity), and 1846-49.

1 Escudo, 1828-50, 9 different years.

2 Escudos, 1828-50, 4 different years.

4 Escudos, 1828-49, 4 different years.

8 Escudos, 1828-37, 3 years.

As with the other member countries, the dates of issue seem almost random, and surprisingly few in numbers.

In addition to the CAR-style issues, Costa Rica countermarked many foreign coins. (CR countermarks on US coins are rare and especially popular.) This was done 1841-46.

And after leaving the CAR, Costa Rica issued coins of their own design, beginning with the 1/2 Real and 1 Escudos of 1842.

For my own collection, I can't see collecting CAR through 1850 and ignoring the non-CAR issues of the same period. It's all part of the same story.

MrEureka

I guess that's enough for now. My comments above are not meant to be comprehensive, and I'm sure some of the details are off a bit, here and there, but hopefully you get the idea. The CAR series is more complex than a typical US date/mintmark series of coins. It really helps to look at each country individually, and to look beyond the coins of a single design. Anyway, collect them as you like. There are no rules.

bidask

Outstanding Andy .....

Thank you for the numismatic education in these great series!

1Bustcollector

Actually, an excellent education by all.



Thank you.

coinkat

It seems to be a great start. A more comprehensive set can always be set up later.

Abuelo

@Analyst said:
The "Central American Republic" was not really a republic; it was a loose federation, mostly an alliance for security and military purposes. The coins are really neat, among my favorites in the whole world.

Although I have examined and written about the rarest dates in the past, I enjoyed writing a basic article this week that is mostly about type coins. I hope that more collectors will discover 19th century Central American coins, which are rare, attractive and modestly valued.

Even forum members who are not interested in reading my article may be inclined to share their thoughts about CAR silver coins. Has anyone formed a silver type set?

Silver Coins of the Central American Republic

insightful10@gmail.com

Working on it...

Zohar

Great write up!