Lanarkshire (1803-09) 4 shillings 9 pence
This specimen was lot 21572 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Las Vegas, August 2020), where it sold for $10,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "SCOTLAND. Scotland - Mexico. Lanarkshire. Glasgow. 4 Shillings 9 Pence, ND (ca. 1803-09). PCGS EF-45 Gold Shield; Countermark: EF Details. Issued by Thistle Bank. Bi-facial Countermark: 4/9 within solid boarder surrounded by "Thistle Bank"; Reverse: Thistle sideways pointing left. Applied to the center of a 1761-MoMM Mexico "Pillar" 8 Reales of Charles III. An EXTREMELY RARE early host coin type for the countermark series not listed in Man[vi]lle for this issuer. In similar fashion to other survivors from this issuer, the obverse countermark is strong, but slightly obscured from the design elements of the crown and globes of the host, while the reverse is bold as normally seen on examples exhibiting this revalidation mark. As a countermark type, this is a lovely example displaying soft grey tone in the open fields and atop of the devices combining attractive slate patina in the protected areas with a mottled iridescent sheen. When taking into consideration the host, the allure and desirability increase ten fold as very few examples from this series are known to exist on Pillar coinage and as such we expect to see serious competition from collectors." 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. The SCWC attributes this countermark to 1811. The plate coin shown therein is a Peru portrait dollar of 1791.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: host coin: 27.07 g, 0.917 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-CC49; Manville-46 (host type not listed).
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The August 2020 ANA Auction: World Coins, featuring the Duke of Lansing Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
Link to:
- Kilkenny (1804-06) 5 shillings 5 pence Castlecomer Colliery Counterstamp on a Charles IV 8 Reales
- Lanarkshire (1810) 5 shillings THISTLE BANK c/m on a Peru 8 reales
- Lanarkshire (1811) 5 shillings LANARK MILLS c/m on a Mexico 8 reales
- Coins and currency dated 1803