Costa Rica 1918 50 centimos
This specimen was lot 2219 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $7,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "COSTA RICA. Uncountermarked 50 Centimos, 1918-GCR. San Jose Mint. NGC AU Details--Cleaned. If coins could tell a story, this one would have a very engaging one to tell. Krause records the entire 1918 mintage of this type, and all but 10 of the 1917 production as having been countermarked with a UN COLON/1923 impression. Most countries of Latin America struggled financially during the teens and twenties years of the 20th Century, and Costa Rica responded to this by debasing their coinage from a 0.900 fine silver standard to one of 0.500 fine. The old silver coinage was redenominated, regardless of fineness, to double face value. Very few examples escaped the countermarking process, making this piece EXCEPTIONALLY RARE. Given the unlisted nature of the piece in Krause, and the lack of any auction record for a 1918 piece, this may well have been the only example to survive, though that is merely speculative. While there has been a cleaning, nice details remain and the very survival of this issue commands that it be in demand no matter the condition. This example presents an almost unheard of chance to acquire a coin with a story unlike any other." The colon was introduced in 1897 and reformed in 1917 and 1920. This type was struck 1917-18 and both dates rare. The SCWC incorrectly calls it a "50 centavos".
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 10 g, 0.500 fine silver, 29 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-150.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th 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]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.
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