Jamaica (1758) 5 pounds
The island of Jamaica was captured by the British in 1655, and formally ceded to them in 1670 by the Treaty of Madrid. Foreign silver abounded in this colony rich in sugar and wealth pirated offshore. In 1758 the Jamaican legislature authorized the countermarking of all denominations of Spanish colonial pillar reales, mostly from Mexico City and Lima. The countermark consists of the letters GR (Georgius Rex). Effort appears to have been made to center the counterstamps but did not always succeed.
The first specimen was lot 24636 in Heritage sale 3030 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $32,900. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Very Rare Jamaica 1758 Doubloon on Lima 8 Escudos British Occupation - Jamaica Authority of November 1758 gold Doubloon (valued at Five Pounds), XF45 NGC. Under coin nice Very Fine, countermarks Extremely Fine. A Lima 1759-JM 8 Escudos counterstamped centrally on both sides with a floriate 'GR' in a circular indent (same punches as those used to stamp the silver 4 Reales). Very rare and important, and long considered one of the classic world rarities. Nine or ten specimens of the doubloon have been confirmed by the cataloguer, including four or five over a Lima 1751 8 Escudos, one each over a Santiago 1753 and a Mexico 1742 8 Escudos, and three specimens over a Lima 1759 8 Escudos, including the present coin. The references to the latter 3 specimens are as follows:
- 1) The present coin. Ex Alexander Patterson (Bonhams 7/1996, lot 619 for £9,000).
- 2) The KM plate coin. Ex SBC (Auction # 24, 1/1990, lot 2208 for $28,900). That coin is perhaps half a grade better than the present piece.
- 3) The specimen referenced by Gordon. Ex Madrid collector (Glendining's 6/1937, lot 415, for £ 78). This is comparable in grade to the present coin, but had small flan flaws and was more a bit more softly struck, rendering it less desirable overall. Incredibly, that 1937 Glendining sale also included the same specimen of the very rare countermarked pistole that is being offered in this sale!
Only recent sales of the Lima 1751 doubloon (the more available under type) have been traced (DNW 11/2011, lot 382 is the VF Ray Byrne specimen for £18,000, and DNW 10/2012, lot 4245 is the XF Farouk specimen for £ 22,000). Probably the most iconic rarity in the challenging West Indies cut and countermarked series."
The second specimen was lot 1282 in Sedwick Auction 36 (Winter Park, FL, November 2024), where it sold for $28,800. The catalog description[2] noted,
"JAMAICA, British Administration, gold 5 pounds, GR countermark (1758) on a Lima, Peru, bust 8 escudos, Ferdinand VI, 1751 J, very rare, NGC AU details / tooled, c/s AU strong, ex-Farouk, ex-Rudman, Friedberg Plate. One of the biggest trophies in the field of Caribbean Cut and Countermarked coins is the Jamaican 'doubloon,' an iconic stamping of flowery 'GR' (Georgius Rex) in the middle of each side of an early Spanish colonial 'wig bust' 8 escudos, authorized by a local Act of November 18, 1758, making it the first official countermark in the British Caribbean colonies, during the height of sugar production and in the face of slave revolts and the threat of French invasion. The countermarking continued until May 1760, and hosts with dates as late as 1759 are known. In his 1965 work, Pridmore identified just three examples of the Jamaican 'doubloon' without mentioning the Farouk specimen—this coin—that had just sold eleven years prior. For the Lima 1751 host specifically we know of four: the Larry Adams specimen (CNG January 2016, lot 2543); the Ray Byrne specimen (Jess Peters auction of June 1975, lot 797, which is also the Plate Coin in Gordon, KM, and the 8th edition of Friedberg); the Virgil Brand specimen (Sotheby's London, June 1985, lot 365, also plated in Pridmore and attributed as lot 680 of the Nobleman auction of 1922); and the present specimen (see pedigree below) from the celebrated collection of King Farouk of Egypt. The countermarks are full and clear, and the host is well struck, with some tooling in the fields on obverse and a minor but identifying rim-flaw below the last digit of the date. Pedigreed to the King Farouk Collection (stated on label) and the Sotheby's Cairo auction of February 1954 (lot 899), also to the Dix Noonan Webb auction of October 2012 (lot 4245) and the Isaac Rudman Numismatic Cabinet; Plate Coin on page 606 of Friedberg's 10th edition (2024) of Gold Coins of the World."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27 g, 0.916 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM 11.4, Fr-1, Prid-1, Gordon-1.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3030, featuring the RLM Collection, the Isaac Rudman Collection, the Hans Cook Collection and the Collection of Donald E. Bently, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2013.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- Pridmore, F., The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the Reign of George VI 1952: Part 3, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras and the British West Indies, London: Spink & Son, 1965.
- [2]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk and Sarah Sproles, Treasure Auction 36, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, featuring the Luis R. Ponte collection, the Jorge Becerra Collection and the John M. O'Brien collection, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2024.
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