Chile 1837-So IJ 8 reales
This eight reales was minted in Santiago, Chile, in 1837. It is a rare date of a popular type coin. Of the other dates of this type, 1839 is available and 1840 is very rare. Issues from 1853 and later were pesos, struck to the 25 g metric standard. The 1848-49 eight reales is slightly lighter (26.6 g) and smaller in diameter and is accorded a different catalog number (KM 96.2). This specimen was lot 30145 in Heritage sale 3097 (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $48,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Exquisitely Rare 1837 Chilean 8 Reales - Only the Second Example to Come to Auction in Decades, Republic 8 Reales 1837 So-IJ MS61 NGC, Santiago mint. The first year of this only three-year type, and by far the key to the series despite its reportedly higher mintage than the 1840 as recorded by the Standard Catalog of World Coins. Entirely unrecorded in such early works as Rosa's Monetario Americana and Medina's Las monedas chilenas, this date was additional[ly] unrepresented in such famous Latin American collections as Fonrobert, Ulex, Guttag, Salbach, and Norweb, with only one other representative having come to light in our research into recent auction records (UBS Gold & Numismatics Auction 79, September 2008, Lot 6236), together with a single piece in the British Museum (BNK, EurC.1243). At present, the only example that has been certified by either NGC or PCGS, the offering contains a resolute stature to the strike, even the smallest details from the eagle's feathers to the hatching in the reverse shield finding full expression on a radiant flan. Ample evidence of die clashing abounds, most distinctively between the Condor's wings and under its chin, as well as above the R in the denomination. All-in-all a simply standout specimen, and likely one of only an exceedingly small number available to collectors."
Recorded mintage: 5,404.
Specification: 26.7 g, 0.902 fine silver, .774 troy oz ASW, 39 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 96.1 (Rare), Elizondo-99 (Very Rare), WR-Unl., Rosa-Unl., Medina-Unl., Fonrobert-Unl., Ulex-Unl., Guttag-Unl., MC-Unl.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Elizondo, Carlos A., Eight Reales and Pesos of the New World, San Antonio, TX: 1968.
- Raymond, Wayte, The Silver Dollars of North and South America, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1964.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, NYINC World Coins Platinum Night Auction 3097, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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