Costa Rica 1872-GW 10 centavos
This type was struck for Costa Rica 1865-72. Costa Rica officially switched from the peso to the colon in 1897, which currency was reformed again in 1917 and 1920. The first specimen was lot 33091 in Heritage sale 3035 (Long Beach, September 2014), where it sold for $258.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "Ceiba 10 Centavos 1872 GW. Second rarest date of type, and likely tied with the half dollar of 1870 for third scarcest in the entire Ceiba Centavo series. It is possible Dana Roberts only had one example, itself half worn smooth. This has obvious light field handling but much detail and natural toning. ex-Fred Mayer collection." The second specimen was lot 1368 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 21 (Winter Park, FL, May 2017), where it sold for $1,292.50. The catalog description[2] noted, "Costa Rica, 10 centavos, 1872GW, encapsulated NGC VF 25. Attractively rainbow toned with muted luster on fields, crude strike and technically more like XF but still second finest in NGC census. NGC #2713812-002. Acquired from Don Garretson (Corpus Christi, TX) in 1968."
Recorded mintage: 18,000 (a scarce date).
Specification: 2.53 g, 0.750 fine silver, .061 troy oz ASW, reeded edge, the second specimen 2.24 grams.
Catalog reference: KM 111.
- 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]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, and Warren Tucker, Heritage Signature Auction 3035, World and Ancient Coins, featuring the FoxLair Collection and the Law Collection, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2014.
- [2]Sedwick, Daniel F., Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction #21, featuring Selections from the Richard Stuart Collection, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC, 2017.
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