Nulles (1937) 50 centims
This specimen was lot 72523 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, June 2022), where it sold for $408. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPAIN. Nulles. 50 Centimos, ND (1937). NGC AU-55. A uniface, octagonal Brass coin, with dark brassy tone and clearly struck obverse. A RARE and unusual civil war provisional issue from the mountain town of Nulles in the Tarragona Province." This specimen was issued by the town of Nulles in the province of Tarragona when a coin shortage developed during the Spanish Civil War. Five denominations were issued (five, ten, twenty-five and fifty centims and one peseta), all rare today. Note the Catalan spelling ("centims") rather than the Spanish spelling ("centimos"). Catalonia offered the stiffest resistance to the Fascists and suffered devastation as a result. Even today, half a century after Franco's death, separatism remains strong there.
Recorded mintage: 1,000.
Specification: brass, 22 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Cayón-17732, KM 4.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The June 2022 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring Selections from the Kings Norton Mint Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
- 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.
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