Costa Rica 1923/1917 colon
This specimen was lot 71592 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $1,560. The catalog description[1] noted, "COSTA RICA. Costa Rica - Costa Rica. Colon, 1923. San Jose Mint. NGC MS-64. Countermark applied to an 1917-GCR Costa Rica 50 Centimos. This beautiful specimen displays a rich luster and strong details, and escapes the ugly marking and handling that are often encountered on the type." During the financially difficult years of 1914-1925, silver coins in Costa Rica were revalued for double the original denomination. The example shown is a 1917 50 centimos, revalued in 1923 to one colon. The host coin is a rare date with only ten known without this counterstamp.
Recorded mintage: unknown; the host coin had a mintage of 9,360.
Specification: 10 g, 0.500 fine silver, 29 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-165 (host coin is 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, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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