Costa Rica (1849-57) c/s 2 reales KM-77

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Sedwick Treasure Auction 28, lot 780
Sed28-780r.jpg
Stack's Bowers 2023 NYINC sale, lot 40288
SB0123-40288r.jpg

The first specimen was lot 780 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "Costa Rica, 2 reales, "lion" countermark (Type VI, 1849-57) on a Guatemala 2 reales 1861R, unique(?), ex-Amon Carter. Choice XF countermark on a VF host, nicely toned all over, unique use of an earlier countermark on a later host. In his November 1981 auction-lot description of this coin, Almanzar simply refers to the countermark as 1889, which should mean a double countermark with CB below lion, whereas the single-sided countermark here is just a lion (Type VI, 1849-57), so we suspect this is either a contemporary counterfeit or an 1889 issue using the incorrect (old) countermark. Pedigreed to Amon G. Carter, Jr. collection and the Almanzar auction of November 1981." The second specimen was lot 40288 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $1,920. The catalog description[2] noted,

"COSTA RICA. 2 Reales, ND (1849). San Jose Mint. PCGS EF-40, Countermark: XF Details. Issued by decree of 22 November 1849 under Juan Rafael More Porras. Countermark: Type VII, Lion advancing left, legend around. Applied to the reverse of a 1849-CR JB Costa Rica (Central American Republic) 2 Reales (KM-24). From the David Sterling Collection."

Altho Costa Rica participated in minting coinage of the Central American Republic, there was never enough bullion to satisfy local needs, especially as specie was drained to pay for European imports. Costa Rica went thru a series of six different counterstamps 1841-57 in ineffectual attempts to keep coin within the country. This one, the sixth series, appears on various gold and silver coins ranging from half a real to one escudo. The SCWC has assigned KM 77 to counterstamped Costa Rican two reales but we have "borrowed" the number for this Guatemalan two reales, which was minted many years after the countermark was demonetized.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: host coin 6.2 g, 0.903 fine silver, this specimen 6.00 grams.

Catalog reference: KM-77; de la Cruz-Pg. 35.

Source:

  • Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • Gurdian, Raul, Contribucion al Estudio de las Monedas de Costa Rica: 100 Años de Colon, 2a Ed., San José, Costa Rica, 1997.
  • Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.
  • [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 28, featuring the Dr. Peter Jones and John O'Brien collections, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2020.
  • [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.

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