El Salvador 1892-CAM 50 centavos KM-112
This specimen was lot 71505 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $780. The catalog description[1] noted, "EL SALVADOR. 50 Centavos, 1892-CAM. Central American (San Salvador) Mint. PCGS AU-53. Because this one-year issue was recalled and melted, examples in high grade are quite SCARCE. The present example is a lovely representative of this popular 'flag' type. The finely-detailed devices are surrounded by flashy luster, moderated by light champagne toning. From the Pat Johnson Collection." This scarce type was struck in 1892 for El Salvador as part of the introduction of decimal coinage to that unhappy land. Prior to the Heaton mint one centavos of 1889, El Salvador used various foreign (mostly Guatemalan) and countermarked coins. The series of 1892 included a centavo (bronze), five, ten, twenty, fifty centavos and peso (silver), and various gold pieces (all very rare). This type with the flag was supplanted that year by a fifty centavos with the bust of Christopher Colombus, which type was struck until 1894.
Recorded mintage: 43,000 plus 55,000 of the Columbus type (KM 113).
Specification: 12.50 g, 0.900 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-112.
- 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 November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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