Mexico 1768-Mo 1/16 real KM-PnA1
This specimen was lot 34120 in Heritage sale 3098 (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $7,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "Mexico: Charles III brass Specimen Pattern 1/16 Real (2 Maravedis) 1768-Mo AU Details (Cleaned) PCGS, Mexico City mint. Very likely near the peak of known quality for the issue in spite of the noted cleaning, with the David O'Harrow example (plated in the Standard Catalog) grading as an XF45 by comparison. Especially striking for its unusual designs that eschewed the portrait types common on Spanish colonial issues of the time, this is only the second example we have handled and the first in brass, a survey of recent auction suggesting that perhaps only 2 additional pieces have come to auction in the last several decades. Extraordinarily rare, and possibly the only opportunity most collectors will have to obtain an example. Privately Purchased from Don Canaparo in October 2017. Selections from the Galleon Collection." This was another failed experiment to circulate base metal coinage in the Spanish American colonies, which situation must have annoyed the authorities no end when they saw large quantities of copper coins circulate in Brazil.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: brass.
Catalog reference: KM-PnA1, Guttag-Unl., Cal-10.
- 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 Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, NYINC World Coins Signature Auction 3098, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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