Mexico 1802-Mo 1/4 real
This specimen was lot 74074 in Stack's Bowers June 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, June 2026), where it sold for $292.80. The catalog description[1] noted, "MEXICO. 1/4 Real, 1802-Mo. Mexico City Mint. Charles IV. NGC AU-53." This specimen, the smallest silver coin struck in colonial times, is an example of a type struck 1796-1816 thru the reigns of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. The type is not rare tho slightly scarcer than contemporary half or one reales. Harris[2] notes the following mints, in order of abundance: Santiago (commonest), Mexico, Lima, Guatemala, Potosi, Nuevo Reino and Popayán (rarest). The Republic of Mexico struck a silver quarter real 1842-63. It is not recorded if this coin circulated in the United States, but if so, it would have had a face value of 3-1/8 cents.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.84 g, .896 silver, .024 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-13172, KM 62; Cal-132.
- [2]Harris, Robert P., Pillars & Portraits, San José, CA: Bonanza Press, 1968.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, June 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Auction - Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, the Richard Margolis Collection and the Kirk Menczer Collection of Republican Reales Minors, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2026.
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