Guatemala 1735-G J real
This specimen was lot 74461 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2025), where it sold for $85. The catalog description[1] noted, "GUATEMALA. Cob Real, 1735/4-G J. Guatemala Mint. Philip V. PCGS Genuine--Tooled, VG Details. From the Richard August Collection." This type was issued from Guatemala 1733-46 and is not at all common. The pieces are often called cobs but aren't really as they were not struck by the hammer but in a screw press. The mint did not have the equipment to cut round blanks and edge them as Mexico was doing, so this was the best they could do. This example has light peripheral scratches on both sides, which may be what PCGS was referring to when they graded it Tooled. Even so, it sold for double the catalog value.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.38 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 3.16 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-8511, KM-3; Cal-356.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Jara, Carlos M., Historia de la Casa de Moneda de Guatemala 1731-1776, Santiago, Chile: Andros Impresores, 2010.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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, October 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the Kirk Menczer Collection of Republican Decimal Minors and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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