El Salvador (1868) c/s real KM-53
The first specimen was lot 70518 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "EL SALVADOR. Real, ND (1868). PCGS GOOD-6. A RARE type V countermark on a Peru 1808-LM JP Real (countermark is VF Detail). Host is well worn but with date and assayers' initials clear, while the countermark itself is well detailed and centered. A decree on September 28, 1868 ordered all worn, Spanish-American, one and two real milled coins counter-stamped with one of various marks, to distinguish them from debased Spanish Provincial coins." The second specimen was lot 71362 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2023), where it sold for $576. The catalog description[2] noted, "EL SALVADOR. El Salvador - Peru. Real, ND (1868). PCGS GOOD-06; Countermark: VF Details. cf. KM-53 (Ferdinand VII host). Type V countermark applied to the obverse of an Lima Mint issue of Charles IV (cf. KM-94 [for type]). A fairly clear overall countermark despite the high degree of circulation and wear." 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 3.38 g, 0.896 fine silver.
Catalog reference: cf. KM-53 (countermarked on a Peru 1 real of Ferdinand VII).
- 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 October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
- [2]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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