NGC mistake? 1898 Mexico Mo AM silver peso restrike
Am I correct that the easiest way to distinguish between the original 1898 silver Mo AM peso and the 1949 restrike is to look at the location of the "o" in "Mo" in relation to the "M"? That is, in the original, the top of the "o" is at the same level as the top of the "M", while in the restrike the "o" is higher than the "M," right? (There are other diagnostics, but this one is the easiest to identify.)
I ask this because Ebay has a listing for an 1898 Mo AM graded by NGC as an original, but it has the "o" at the higher location, which seems to suggest it should be the restrike.
I emailed the seller a few days ago, who said he would investigate further, but the listing information hasn't changed (maybe NGC hasn't gotten back to him?). I am now beginning to wonder if my understanding is wrong...
Can anyone weigh in here?
Comments
You are correct regarding the M and o position on the reverse of the original. And clearly, to me, this is the simplest of all diagnostic tests. Unless you feel like counting and you have a lot of free time...
If is the one graded 63+, that to me looks like the restrike.
Abuelo,
The NGC 63+ is the coin I was looking at.
I think this is a restrike.
Is it this listing?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152647008134
The NGC coin is a 1949 restrike.
PCGS has also graded these coins:
Mexico Peso 1898 Restrike - PCGS MS-62
I became interested in these coins in 2004 and researched them, mostly because of the San Francisco Mint connection as I live near San Francisco.
During the summer of 1949 the San Francisco Mint struck 2,000,000 and the Mexico City Mint struck 8,250,000 copies of the Mexico Peso dated 1898 for use in China.
These were made for the Chiang Kai-Shek Nationalist government (Kuomintang), which was losing it's war with the Chinese Communists. The Nationalists needed the silver to pay their soldiers who would no longer accept paper money.
The dollar-size Mexico silver 8 reales and peso coins were used extensively in China as "trade dollars" in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so the Chinese people and merchants were familiar with them.
The Communists took over China before most of the coins could be shipped there and so they weren't needed in China.
Some of the Mexico City restrikes were sold in Mexico and all now for sale are from the Mexico City mintage.
All of the San Francisco restrikes were kept at that city's Bank of America and then shipped back to the mint to be melted.
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That's the listing. I can see no change to the initial listing.
Possibly, the seller knows nothing about the coin, and because the grading company said so, well, that's what it is.
Not the first time NGC makes this mistake: https://coins.ha.com/itm/mexico/world-coins/mexico-republic-peso-1898-mo-am-/a/610081-61128.s
Also, there's an original 1898 for sale on eBay right now, as well: https://ebay.com/itm/1898-MEXICO-1-ONE-PESO-SILVER-COIN-TONED-NICE/380361208571
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Interestingly, the one on Heritage is not attributed as original or restrike by NGC (or Heritage)...
confusing but looks like both types are 1949 but one with original die the other not. otherwise the 1898 shows zero produced. I think this is what I am reading
1898 Mo AM 10,250,000 KM#409.2 (Restrike (1949) - reverse with 134 beads)
1898 Mo AM 10,156,000 KM#409.2 (Original strike - reverse with 139 beads)
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I do not think the number of beads is as reliable, not to mention that counting them is a pain.