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2 reales dies. I was planning on minting my own coins. :)

I bought this set of dies because I thought they were quite neat.

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Dies for 1857 Ecuador 2 real coins. Most likely for counterfeit coins, but hopefully for contemporary counterfeit coins.

From what I can gather:

The designs for these coins and the 4 and 8 Reales vary quite a bit even for the same date.
This was because, they used several dies to mint same date of coin. You can see a big difference in 4 Reales dated 1844, 1857 among others. There are coins that have inverted V instead of A, or letter Q in replace O, etc.

In Ecuadorian numismatic 19th century the counterfeit coins were very common.
At that time because there was so many counterfeit coins the government legalized counterfeit coins (These coins are known as Floreana), with the purpose of preventing the collapse of the industry of that era.

The coin of 2 Reales coins dated 1857 are classed as rare now. But at the time they were minted in a large number, more that the some of the coins minted from 1847 to 1852, but many were sent to Peru to be melted. (on January 7 1858, , Peruvian forces moved in and occupied city).

A lot of things including coin dies were "lost" when "La casa de Moneda de Quito" was destroyed by an earthquake on march 22 of 1859 according to a book by Melvin Hoyos.


Am I on the right track with the information. What's your thoughts?
Does anyone here know much about or specialise in Ecuador Reales?

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    MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,740 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Very interesting. I'd love to see them in person some day.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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    spoonspoon Posts: 2,798 ✭✭✭
    Very cool! image

    I know nothing about this sort of thing, but find it fascinating. You may want to add something to the thread title like '2 reales dies' to get all the latin america experts to swoop in.
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    HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    Good idea Spoon.

    Very interesting. I'd love to see them in person some day.

    My pleasure Andy. If your ever in Scotland.. Or perhaps if I finally do make it down to London's COINEX we could meet up and you could see them there.

    I am considering buying some scrap 22 ct gold melting it down into the shape of a coin planchet and seeing if I could strike an novelty piece up.
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    MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,740 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Or perhaps if I finally do make it down to London's COINEX we could meet up and you could see them there.

    If you make it this year, please do bring them! I'll definitely be there for the first day of the show, all day.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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    zeebobzeebob Posts: 2,825
    I head tell of a silver bar that had the obverse pattern and the reverse pattern of a morgan dollar impressed on each end. The dies were cancelled. I wonder if you can use your dies to do the same sort of stuff?
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    Very cool. Would flipping or somehow reversing the images of the dies give a right-way-up image of the coin produced?

    Andrew
    Still thinking of what to put in my signature...
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    HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    If you make it this year, please do bring them! I'll definitely be there for the first day of the show, all day.

    Sounds good Andy. If I am able to make it I'll bring them with me for you to see.

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    HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    I've managed to take some better pictures (although the lighting isn't the best).

    The bag I bought them in:
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    Although quite small they are heavy.
    Too heavy for my digital scales so I had to weigh them on my kitchen scales.

    The obverse die weighs: approx 180 grams
    The obverse die weighs: approx 190 grams
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    lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 45,144 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Very neat.

    Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.

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    pruebaspruebas Posts: 5,247 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What a neat thread.

    Was it ever determined whether these dies were for genuine coins?
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    I hope they are genuine dies!
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    DeiGratiaDeiGratia Posts: 273 ✭✭✭
    wow these are definitely image

    Would be cooler if you can get it authenticated as genuine.
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    ormandhormandh Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭
    Zohar had some dies of a certain coin, but I can not figure out the search feature for the life of me.
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    You should see if Daniel Carr would strike you some coins with those dies as a limited edition or something if the dies are genuine.

    Daniel Carr has his own private mint- the Moonlight mint. He designed some of the state quarters.

    http://www.dc-coin.com/

    I'm sure some forum members including myseld would want a few if you did!

    -Kev

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    HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    Was it ever determined whether these dies were for genuine coins?

    No, I kind of put them aside but I still have them.

    You should see if Daniel Carr would strike you some coins with those dies as a limited edition or something if the dies are genuine.

    Actually that thought had crossed my mind before, he has some neat stuff. I guess I'd be a bit worried if they cracked and he may need to polish the surface of them pre-striking and I dont know if that would be something I would want done to them.

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    Ive seen "coins" struck with old canceled dies - like the "confederate cent" restrikes of the 1960s - struck with old rusted and canceled dies.

    I bet a struck coin/medal with these dies would help you ID them. Maybe write him an email - doesnt hurt to ask..

    -Kev
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