Guatemala 1748-G J 4 reales
This specimen was lot 71534 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $690. The catalog description[1] noted, "GUATEMALA. Cob 4 Reales, 1748-G. Guatemala Mint; Assayer Jose de Leon y Losa (J). Ferdinand VI. PCGS VF-35. A SCARCE date, this being the only example certified by PCGS. Well-struck on a highly irregular planchet, this 4 Reales piece offers an unexpected amount of detail. The obverse displays a full, bold date below a set of nicely detailed pillars and globes, along with the typically flat mintmark. On the reverse, the monarch's ordinal and final letters of his name are well-presented to the left of the assayer's initial. An eye-catching and sharp example. From the Pat Johnson Collection." This type was issued from Guatemala 1747-53 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.54 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 13.33 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-10478, KM-11; Cal-346.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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.
- 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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