Caracas 1805 1/4 real
This specimen was lot 2371 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA. Caracas. 1/4 Real, 1805. Charles IV. NGC VG Details--Environmental Damage. An EXTREMELY RARE early copper issue, this example shows evidence of environmental damage like virtually all survivors, however the resulting surface granularity is even across the coin. Rather importantly, the designs are also pleasingly presented, with an exceptionally bold '5' in the date. As such, an important coin, fit for any advanced collection that contains Venezuela's earliest coinage. In order to deal with the money shortage in the Captaincy General of Venezuela, Spanish royalists began striking low denomination copper coins (1/4 and 1/8 Reals) in Caracas in 1802. From the Centuria Collection." The second specimen was lot 51050 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2024), where it sold for $6,600. The catalog description[2] noted,
"VENEZUELA. Caracas. 1/4 Real, 1805. Caracas Mint. Charles IV. NGC EF-45. Already an EXTREMELY RARE type, the present example is the only one found in CoinArchives with the "4" in the denomination shown correctly and not in retrograde. This issue is almost never found in such a wholesome state, unmarred by corrosion. As such, all of its details including the date, city name, central devices, and denomination appear boldly on the handsome brown surfaces. An exceptional coin worthy of strong bids by Venezuelan specialists. From the EMO Collection. Privately purchased from Freeman Craig."
To call these "royalist" issues is a misnomer as there was no republican movement in Latin America in 1805. However, this type, struck 1802-05 for local use, was issued again 1813-21 by the later royalists.
Recorded mintage: 70,000.
Specification: copper, 21-25 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Cayón-13086, KM-C2; Stohr-2. The second specimen is EMO-253.1 (Plate coin); KM-C2; Cal-6 var. (regular denomination); Stohr-2.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2024 NYINC Auction, featuring the Emilio M Ortiz Collection and a Symphony of Russian Rarities, the Rothschild-Piatigorsky Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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