Caracas 1802 1/8 real
This is a specimen of a 1/8 real, issued 1802-18 by the royalists in Caracas, Venezuela. Like most local issues produced outside the major mints (Lima, Potosi, etc.), it usually comes crudely struck. The city fell to the Colombians in 1821, who issued silver quarter reales (KM C31). Venezuela attained separate independence in 1830.
This specimen was sold as lot 1741 on Apr 9, 2010 at an auction by Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, where it sold for $1,610. The catalog description reads: "Caracas, Venezuela, copper 1/8 real, 1802, rare first coin of Venezuela. Crude VG with dark fields but mostly bold details, very highly sought as the first date of coin ever struck in Venezuela, made only in this denomination and the larger copper 1/4 real."
Recorded mintage: 59,000.
Specification: 2 g, copper, this specimen 1.9 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-13057, KM C1.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, vol. 1, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stohr, Tomas, El Circulante en la Capitania General de Venezuela, Caracas, Banco Central de Venezuela, 1998.
Link to:
- Caracas 1805 1/4 real
- 1817 2 reales
- 1819 4 reales
- Coins and currency dated 1802
- return to coins of Venezuela