El Salvador (1868) c/s 2 reales
The first specimen was lot 71358 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2023), where it sold for $552. The catalog description[1] noted, "EL SALVADOR. El Salvador - Mexico. 2 Reales, ND (1868). PCGS GOOD-04; Countermark: Fine Details. KM-Unlisted. Type V countermark applied to the obverse of a 1773-Mo FM issue of Charles III with inverted mintmark and assayer's letter (. Though the host coin is very well worn, it nevertheless retains enough detail to make identification rather easy, and with a countermark that still retains a solid appearance as well." The second specimen was lot 71359 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2023), where it sold for $312. The catalog description[1] noted,
"EL SALVADOR. El Salvador - Mexico. 2 Reales, ND (1868). PCGS FAIR-02; Countermark: VF Details. Type V, arms of El Salvador within dentilated circular border. Issued by decree of 28 September 1868. Applied to the reverse of a Mexico City 2 Reales of Charles IV (KM-91). Struck on a heavily circulated colonial Mexican host, this SCARCE countermark issue offers much originality and eye appeal. While the host coin's final two date digits are illegible, the coin must have been struck between 1792 and 1799. The monarch's name is quite distinct and the mintmark is faint but identifiable on the reverse. The countermark, by contrast, is rather bold despite some evident die wear. A nice example of this interesting and seldom-seen type."
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. By 1868, what colonial coinage still circulated in El Salvador was worn and underweight, an invitation to the counterfeiter.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: host coin 6.77 g, 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: the first specimen cf. KM-88.1 & Cal-658 (for type). The second specimen is KM-60.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, May 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Featuring the Richard Elliott Collection of Hooknecks, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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