File:Brazil 1922 10000 reis obv H3030-23157.jpg

This specimen was lot 23157 in Heritage sale 3030 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $105,750. The catalog description^[1] noted, "The Famed 10,000 Reis of 1922 KM 496, Russo-710, MS64 NGC. A true Gem, this piece is as-struck with only a couple of tiny marks. Since only six were minted, the strike is bold producing an unusually detailed bust of the "Republic". The coin is bright with prooflike surfaces. By the 1910's, mintages of gold coins were decreasing to a few hundred per year. Most of the republic later issues ended up "exported" to other countries, especially Britain, for payment of debt. Brazil would get the gold value which, at the time, was higher than the face value of the coins. 1922 was the last year Brazil struck gold coinage, one hundred years after the first Brazilian independent coinage was produced It would take another fifty years for Brazil to strike another gold coin. The only specimen we have on record at public auction is from Spink's Norweb auction in 1997."