Catalonia 1648 2 sueldos
This specimen was lot 72494 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, June 2022), where it sold for $144. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPAIN. Catalonia. 2 Sueldos, 1648. Perpinya Mint. Philip IV. NGC AU Details--Countermark. Providing lightly handled surfaces this charming and uncommonly encountered type demonstrates a lovely nature with added intrigue from the countermark. The countermark appears to display the head of Saint John on a hand giving the 'thumbs up' gesture. Its origin is unknown, but it is certainly very old. This cataloger was able to find one other example of this counterstamp, applied to a 1644 example of this denomination and originating in the Huntington collection. On this account alone, certainly worth of a bid accounting to the curious nature of the counterstamp. Ex: Eric P. Newman Collection." Perpinya is today known as Perpignan and is now part of France but was Spanish prior to 1659. This type was struck 1644-54. The copper coinage of Spain was subject to frequent counterstamping. The regime tended to overissue it and then call it in to counterstamp it with a reduced value so that it would be accepted.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper.
Catalog reference: Cayón-7007, KM 102.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, 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 Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The June 2022 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring Selections from the Kings Norton Mint Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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