Caracas '781' 2 reales
This specimen was lot 1954 in Stephen Album sale 38 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2020), where it sold for $714. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA: AR 2 reales, Caracas, "781", assayer LM, struck by the Royalist or Republican forces 1810-21, good strike, PCGS graded F15. These were among the first issues of the provisional Caracas mint, which had started operations in 1812 by issuing coins imitating the Lima cobs (macuquinas) then found in circulation, hence the LM initials as on this example." This is a specimen of a type issued by the royalists or republicans in Caracas, Venezuela. Like most local issues produced outside the major mints (Lima, Potosi, etc.), it usually comes crudely struck. This type is of the 'cob' style and one of many fake dates issued for the type. It was probably struck 1810-17. The city fell to the Colombians in 1821, who issued silver quarter reales (KM C31). Venezuela attained separate independence in 1830.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 4.5-5.8 g, 0.200-0.600 fine Silver.
Catalog reference: Cr-13.1.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Stohr, Tomas, El Circulante en la Capitania General de Venezuela, Caracas, Banco Central de Venezuela, 1998.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 38, featuring the Dabestani Collection of Persian Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
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