Ecuador 1997 1000 Sucres Bimetallic Coin Struck with a Medal - Is it worth U.S. certification?
ricarf2386
Posts: 274 ✭✭✭
Hello everyone,
I am being offered an interesting Ecuadorian error coin and wanted to get the community's expert opinion. The base coin is a genuine bimetallic 1997 1,000 Sucres.
Based on my research, this coin was struck at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg. It appears that while the mint was fulfilling the official contract for Ecuador, they were also striking a private commemorative medal series dedicated to Ecuador's 3rd President (Juan José Flores, 1839-1845) using the same facilities. Due to a mixing error in the bins or hoppers, this already-struck 1000 Sucres coin was fed into the press and overstruck off-center with the presidential medal dies.
The error is fully visible on both sides:
- The side with the "1000 Mil Sucres" denomination shows half of the President's medal portrait and the text "Tercer Presidente" along with the dates 1839 / 1843.
- The side with Eugenio Espejo's face shows the other half of the coin, which was overstruck with the Coat of Arms and the legend "República del Ecuador" from the medal.
It is currently in a local grading holder (ENCS AU 55), which I consider to have no international market value. My questions for the board are:
- Is it worth the investment to send this coin to the United States to be certified by ANACS, NGC, or PCGS?
- Would a unique international bimetallic overstrike like this generate real interest or strong bidding in the U.S. market or a major auction?
Thank you for your insights!
Comments
Unfortunately, I don't think you can blame the Canadians for this one. The coins appear to have been made in Chile that year. Numista. I don't know if the medals were made there too, but as a general rule, you need some hard and fast evidence that the medals were definitely made by the same mint, at the same time, for it to qualify as a mint error. A coin struck over the top of a medal has to have been made at the mint that made the coins, but a medal struck over a coin could literally happen anywhere that makes medals. A far more probable explanation for this piece is that a private medal factory in Ecuador made the medals, and put a normal coin from circulation in the dies either to test the equipment or just for funsies.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
Hello, my friend! You are absolutely right.
I researched the matter in more detail and it's a certainty: the base 1997 1000 Sucres coin was physically minted at the Casa de Moneda de Chile, in Santiago. Furthermore, I managed to track down these Constitutional Presidents medals and found the exact data: the dies and the production of this private token series were made locally here in Ecuador.
Therefore, the reality is just as you explained in your previous message. Most likely, a private Ecuadorian workshop was testing their machinery, or some mischievous worker simply decided to play a prank by inserting a regular circulation coin into the Juan José Flores presidential dies, resulting in this curious off-center error.
I have completely cleared up all my doubts now. Knowing all of this, buying that coin for the $100 they were asking would have been a foolish mistake; it is not worth it at all. Thank you so very much for your explanation, you truly saved me from making a bad investment!
