Guatemala (1894) peso KM-216

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from the Mountain Groan Collection
Guatemala 1879cs peso rev DSLR.jpg
Stack's Bowers October 2021 Collector's Choice sale, lot 71176
SB1021-71176r.jpg

The SCWC notes of this type, "By 1894, foreign coins had become so prevalent that on August 10, the government authorized their counter-stamping at the mint, with official ½ real dies of 1894, to legitimize their circulation." To this author, there are problems with this interpretation; the counterstamped coins are almost exclusively Chilean pesos or Peruvian soles and the surviving specimens are generally in good condition, suggesting that they were new or nearly new when they were counterstamped. Previous counterstamping operations in Guatemala had been of heavily worn coins. It is this author's surmise that the mint purchased the coins from Chile and Peru with the intention of counterstamping them and that the other, rare varieties were mixed in by accident. The second specimen was lot 71176 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "GUATEMALA. Peso, 1894. PCGS MS-62. A 1/2 Real counterstamp on a Chile 1883-So Peso. Counterstamp is graded UNC Details, and shows only the barest evidence of the host underneath. A very attractive example of the type, with pleasing, lustrous surfaces and strong lilac to pea-green toning on the obverse."

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 25 g, 0.900 fine silver, .723 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: KM 216.

Source:

  • 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, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.

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