Greenock (1823) 4 shillings 6 pence
This specimen was lot 30237 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $4,560. The catalog description[1] noted, "SCOTLAND. Scotland - Guatemala. Renfrewshire. Greenock. J. McK(elvie?) & Son. 4 Shillings 6 Pence, ND (ca. 1823). PCGS VF-30. Countermark: "4/6" within "J McK & Son / GREENOCK" within incuse circle. Applied to the center of an 1813-NG M Guatemala 8 Reales of Ferdinand VII. A deeply toned and evenly circulated host coin, this counterstamped specimen also stands as a fairly SCARCE representative of the type. Wholly elegant and alluring. From the Richard August Collection." Scotland in the early nineteenth century was tearing into the Industrial Revolution and manufacturers were eager for coin to facilitate trade. As the Royal Mint could not keep up, many private issues appeared. Spanish dollars circulated freely and many of these were countermarked; the SCWC records over a hundred different countermarks. Today they are all rare. This counterstamp is attributed to 1823.
Recorded mintage: 361,989.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.896 fine silver, .780 troy oz ASW (host coin).
Catalog reference: KM-CC57.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2025 NYINC Showcase Auction, featuring the Richard Margolis Collection, Part III, and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- Guatemala 1813-NG M 8 reales, host coin
- Greenock (1821) 4 shillings 6 pence "J & A Muir" c/m on a Zacatecas 8 reales
- Coins and currency dated 1823