Angola 1785 1/2 macuta
This specimen was lot 42018 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, September 2026), where it sold for $3,416. The catalog description[1] noted, "ANGOLA. 1/2 Macuta, 1785. Lisbon Mint. Maria I & Pedro III. PCGS MS-64 Red Brown. A lovely near-Gem specimen offering pleasing retained Mint Red, general sharpness in the details, and alluring charm throughout." This type was struck for Angola in 1785-86 in Lisbon. The Portuguese landed in 1491 and immediately made the region a major slaving station, which trade would not end until the 1850's when the British Royal Navy interdicted the trade. The later nineteenth century was devoted to resource extraction and fending off attempts by the other colonizing powers to seize territory. Large and small shield varieties exist. This example realized 28 times the catalog value.
Recorded mintage: 154,186.
Specification: 19 g, copper, 37 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-28; Gomes-MP.02.01.
- Alberto Gomes and Francisco Antonio Magro, Moedas Portuguesas e do Território Que Hoje é Portugal: Catálogo das Moedas Cunhadas para o Continentes e Ilhas Adjacentes, para os Territórios do Ultramar e Grão-Mestres Portugueses da Ordem de Malta, 6ª Edição, Lisbon: Associação Numismática de Portugal, 2013.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2026.
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