El Salvador (1862-63) c/s 1/2 real

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Stack's Bowers 2022 NYINC sale, lot 8639
SB122-8639r.jpg

This specimen was lot 8639 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $432. The catalog description[1] noted,

"EL SALVADOR. Guatemala. 1/2 Real, ND (1862). NGC Fine Details--Cleaned; Countermark: VF Strong. Type IV Countermark: 'R' (Rehabilitado) within circular beaded border of 21 beads. Countermark applied to the obverse of 1860-R Guatemala 1/2 Real. A charming little coin with honest circulation, likely in both Guatemala and El Salvador, displaying light gray tone with richer patina in the legends and crevasses. Close inspection reveals evidence of a past cleaning, now slightly subdued. Despite its shortcomings this RARE denomination is seldom encountered and his would make a nice addition to many collections.

The time period in which these countermarks were issued was filled with strife and turmoil. To circumvent the forgeries of current Guatemalan coins then in circulation, they were inspected by local officials and if found to be of correct weight and fineness were countermarked with the "R" within beaded border. The Salvadorian Government under President Gerardo Barrios Espinosa (12 March 1859 to 26 October 1863) was the only Central American state that remained loyal to the federation and was under continuous threat of invasion from neighboring Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. President Barrios fled El Salvador to Nicaragua in 1863 where he was eventually captured and extradited back to El Salvador. He was tried 28 August 1863 and executed the next day. He is considered a national hero and his name is honored by the naming of national institutions, two major cities and his life is taught in school."

El Salvador spent most of the first decades of independence struggling to free herself from Guatemalan domination. Some debased silver provisional coinage was issued 1828-34 but no proper national coinage appeared until 1889. In between are several series of countermarks applied to foreign coins to validate them for use. This countermark, applied exclusively to Guatemalan coins of the Carrera regime, is fairly common on half, one and two reales but rare on four and eight reales.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: host coin 1.55 g, 0.903 fine silver.

Catalog reference: KM-83.

Source:

  • Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • Raymond, Wayte, The Coins of Central America, Silver and Copper, 1824-1940, New York: Wayte Raymond Inc., 1941.
  • Robinson, Charles, The Coins of Central America, 1733-1965, San Benito, TX: 1965.
  • 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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