Ecuador 1915-BIRM 1/2 decimo
After a period of striking reales, pesos and escudos which must be regarded as failure, Ecuador ceased minting coins in 1862. In 1884, the government tried again, this time with coinage produced on contract by the Heaton mint in Birmingham, England. A new currency conforming to the Latin Monetary Union was introduced, the sucre, with its division the centavo. Silver medio decimos (= five centavos) were produced at Heaton 1884-86 and 1915, and at Lima, Peru, 1893-1912. The specimen shown is from the Heaton mint. The type is common in all grades but several varieties exist, including 1912/05. The second specimen was lot 34468 in Heritage sale 3038 (Dallas, January 2015), where it sold for $135.13. The catalog description[1] noted, "Galapagos Islands Counterstamp Upon 1/2 Decimo 1915 VF/XF, Counterstamp script 'RA'. Issued for the Penal colony on the Galapagos Islands to pay prisoners for their labor. No documentation exists for the mintage of this coin, so it is of tentative attribution."
Recorded mintage: 2,000,000 plus a few proofs.
Specification: 1.25 g, 0.900 fine silver, .036 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM 55.2.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage Signature Auction 3038, featuring the Empire, the Santa Catarina, the Law and the Santa Maria Collections, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2014.
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