Mexico 1821-Ga FS 8 escudos

Eliasberg lot 3249

Heritage sale 3041, lot 31424

The first specimen was lot 3249 in the Eliasberg sale, where it sold for $20,700. The catalog description^[1] noted,

"1821 FS 8 escudos. Guadalajara mint. AU-55 (NGC). Types as above. Rich medium gold with deepening highlights toward the rims. Good lustre and only minor scattered handling marks. Much better struck than the Karon, Gerber, or Norweb coins, with remarkable detail in the central reverse. A rare issue, popular as the only readily collectible issue from this mint but very rare in such fine state of preservation. This is an exemplary coin, arguably among the finest known, original and exhibiting excellent visual appeal. From the John H. Clapp Collection; Clapp estate to Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., 1942."

The second specimen was lot 31424 in Heritage sale 3041 (Chicago, August 2015), where it sold for $105,750. The catalog description^[2] noted,

"Guadalajara. Ferdinand VII gold 8 Escudos 1821 Ga-FS MS62 NGC, Guadalajara Mint. Brilliant Uncirculated with superbly lustrous surfaces and fewer than the expected contact marks for the designation. Some weakness of strike on the shield on the reverse but a truly superlative representative of this very rare draped bust type (using punches of the King's bust originally intended for silver 8 Reales) with outstanding eye-appeal. When sold as part of the legendary Norweb collection, this same specimen merited the following description from a generally reserved cataloguer: "some weakness in striking, but a superb specimen in Brilliant Mint State"! The finest seen by the cataloguer (only the Caballero de las Yndias example - Aureo 4/2009, lot 446 - appears in the same league), and currently the single certified example by NGC of this issue. Immeasurably desirable in this in all probability unimprovable preservation, this impeccably pedigreed example is a testimony of the care bestowed upon it by its previous legendary owners and is destined to become one of the most significant pieces in the next preeminent collection that will house it. The cataloguer notes the aforementioned comparable example in the Caballero de las Yndias sale hammered at E42,000. Ex. Norweb Collection (Christie's Dallas 5/1985, lot 150); previously ex. Medina Collection and his plate coin in Las Monedas Obsidionales Hispanomericanas. From The Rudman Collection of Mexican Coins."

The branch mint at Guadalajara was opened by local officials in 1812 during the Mexican war of independence to eliminate the need to haul ore over bandit infested mountains.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 27.07 g, 0.875 fine gold. The first specimen: 26.36 grams, 35.90 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: Cayón-16503 (bare bust), KM 161.1, Fr-53, Calico Onza-1205; the second specimen KM 164, Onza-1206, Cayón-16504 (draped bust).

Source:

^[1]Kraljevich, John, John Pack, Elizabeth O. Piper and Frank Van Valen, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., Collection of World Gold Coins and Medals, Wolfboro, NH: American Numismatic Rarities, 2005.
^[2]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World & Ancient Coins Auction 3041, featuring the Eric Beckman Collection of Canadian Coins, the Kaiser Collection of German Gold Coins and the Rudman Collection of Mexican Coins, Part I, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2015.
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.
Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

Mexico 1821-Ga FS 8 escudos

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