Abuelo's year in review.
Abuelo
Posts: 2,009 ✭✭✭✭✭
Hello all and happy Xmas and best for 2026.
I was following on others like @Boosibri @Zohar and @pruebas who published their best of the year. I am a bit worried, as it looks like I bought 76 coins this year, something very unusual as normally I get substantially less, but the Menczer sale by Stack’s was covering my decimal minors from Mexico’s Second Republic and I got 18 coins. Some very rare coins came to the block that I could not let go. But following on the theme of “my best 3” for the year, none of the coins in this list belong to that sale.
So here we go.
The first one is this 10 pesos gold, from Durango. For the 1873/2 issue, PCGS has graded 2 coins, and NGC has 7, so not the rarest of the series (NGC has 429 coins for the entire 10 pesos series, of about 145 coin)s. All Durango gold 10 pesos are difficult to get, and this one I bought on eBay less than 10 minutes after offered to sale for a ridiculous price. You see @pruebas eBay does not always disappoint…
The second one is this assayer F. This coin belongs to the favourite section “Coins you have never seen before, coins you are not likely to see ever again”. This is the second assayer F coin in the collection. At the time of purchase (November 2025) NGC has graded 3 coins. The coin was from the famous collection of Clyde Hubbard, and later on, the Sedwick Downing collection. My other assayer F coin is a 1 real coin Ex Vidal Quadras y Ramon, and that one came to me via @MrEureka
Assayer F is perhaps the rarest of all assayers for the Carlos & Juana series. His name and tenure dates are unknown. Cori Sedwick Downing, in her paper “The Charles and Joanna Coinage of Mexico City, 1536-1571: A Research Study on the Early Series and Introduction to the Late Series” (unknown to me the date of publication) wrote that Assayer F minted ½, 1, 2, and 4 reales. “There are approximately 26 coins known in collections and auctions, with the majority from the “Golden Fleece wreck” (ca. 1550), one from the “Ines de Soto wreck” (ca. 1557), and none from the Spanish 1554 Fleet (Padre Island)”. She describes the main type of 1-real coins: Latin M-F flanking shield and left-leaning rhomboid banner between pillars. In her paper “An Overview of Charles and Johanna Coinage from Mexico City Mint” (USMexNA Journal 2017) she wrote ”I have cataloged only 36 Assayer F coins, in all denominations”. As we can see, there were few more coins described between both papers. Kent Ponterio in his paper “The Coinage of Mexico Struck During the Reign of Charles and Johanna” (revised June 2009) he stated that Assayer F is the third assayer of the Early Series. “Coins of this assayer are anywhere from extremely rare to unique” and suggests he was an interim assayer sometime in 1540 or 1541. He suggests 3 possible candidates: Francisco de Loaysa, Esteban Franco (also favoured by Ms Downing), or less likely, Francisco Rodriguez (from the Santo Domingo mint). From the sale's catalogue: "MEXICO, Mexico City, 2 reales, Charles-Joanna, "Early Series," assayer F to right, mintmark M to left (oMo-oFo, plain annulets), motto as PLVS in left-leaning rhomboid panel with single annulets on either side, extremely rare, NGC VF details / tooled, ex-Sedwick-Downing (stated on label). Nesmith-15; S-M3; Cal-90; KM-11. 5.91 grams. Full interiors and nearly full legends despite weak areas, tooling, and cleaning that imparted a coppery toning all over, overall still quite acceptable for such a rare issue of assayer F, the pillars side a die match with an assayer-G issue (which is what Hubbard thought it was, just the G rubbed off, as recorded on his tag), but also a die match with another assayer-F example (look at Sedwick Auction 4, lot 202). Pedigreed to the Sedwick-Downing Collection of Mexican Charles-Joanna Coinage."
The third coin, and not a that rare, is this 1908 peso. The issue with this coin is that is MS66+, one of the most impressive “Peso Fuertes” that I have ever seen. This condition rarity is simply as minted.
I also have few runner ups...
Another condition rarity, MS67
A classic numismatic rarity form Mexico (assayer's error)
A relatively high grade copper coin, loved it
An Eliasberg coin
And to finish, the difficult task to select one of the coins form the Menczer collection. This one is not the flashiest, just the only one certified for the year, mint, and assayer (the whole collection had many "only one" like this).
That is all for the year I think. I know, too many runner ups. It is like choosing a favourite child 
Comments
Absolutely stunning coins and I really love the Peso of 1898. The fields are just so clean! Also, question for clarification ... was the 1898 Peso also used to help the Chinese during WW2? I remember some being shipped or something or it was a restrike? I just know the 1898 date. They were given to the Kuomintang (KMT) IIRC?
Cheers Abuelo! Merry Christmas!
What a great year! Thanks for sharing
Latin American Collection
Thank you @Boosibri
@anthonythecoinman while the peso is from 1908, there was indeed an emission for pesos dated 1898 minted in San Francisco, used to pay Chinese soldiers. They decided to use the 1898 style as it was familiar with the troops.
Hi Abuelo, roger that. And my goodness, I just glossed over the date and my mind just jumped to the grade and forgot the 1908 and 1898. My apologies there. Thank you for answering my question!
Wow, @Abuelo! What a year! Way to go!
And I was just kidding about eBay. I’m so happy you got that 10P.
And a Ferrocarril in 67! 😳😵💫
@anthonythecoinman the 1898 Peso was restruck in Denver(?) in 1949, so after WWII. Yes, I think it was to help the KMT.
Hi Pruebas! Okay, noted! Glad to see this and connect it to my usual stories I have heard about regarding ... the 1934 Junk Dollar with Mr. Sun Yat Sen on it. Stay in touch and have a great Christmas. Cheers!
Thank you @pruebas
More than 10 million 1898-dated pesos were produced, including 1,250,000 struck at the San Francisco Mint according to the Mint director’s Annual Report for 1949. The restrikes are differentiated by the position of the “o” in Mexico City’s “Mo” mintmark. Original pesos have the top of the “M” and “o” flush with one another, where on the restrikes the top of the “o” sits above the top of the “M.”
@Abuelo is correct. Sorry for the error.
San Francisco, not Denver. Though Denver did mint coins for Mexico in the Twentieth Century.
Thank you for taking the time to share @abuelo. What a terrific year. Congrats!
Genuinely appreciate the knowledge you bring to this forum and your willingness to share it.
……and nice freakin’ coins. The Eliasburg 1/2E is OK I guess
@MEJ7070 thank you. Yet to be honest, the info on the 1898 peso is readily available.
Of interest, the IG crowd was in general in disagreement with me, as only 1 of the most liked coins is in their list!
HNY everyone!
Coin collection or popularity contest? 🤣
@pruebas public education. Exposing the youth, who lived on their phones, to the beauty of Mexican coins.
Lovely collage! Happy new year! Great coins!
Lovely pieces, all!
PS- I have never owned a Carlos y Juana piece, but it's on my "someday to do" list.
For that matter, I've never owned any of these types, except the Cap & Rays peso, and that assuredly not in MS66+!
I have owned exactly one Eliasberg coin (a holed gold solidus of the emperor Zeno (must've been one of Eliasberg's "junkbox" items, haha).
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.