Panama (1556-98)-Pa Xo 1/2 real
This specimen was lot 1449 in Sedwick sale 34 (Winter Park, FL, November 2023), where it sold for $12,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "Panama, cob 1/2 real, Philip II, assayer oX to right, mintmark AP to left, extremely rare, NGC XF details / holed, ex-Sellschopp, ex-Ortiz, ex-Richard Stuart, Plate Coin in The Numismatist (1990), Gaceta Numismatica (1974, 1989), Calico-Trigo, KM, and Proctor. Choice full crown and monogram and cross, with lovely toning and very clean surfaces (lacking the usual porosity found on specimens from wetland burial or shipwreck), bold full mintmark and assayer, much legend, holed to right of cross / near top of crown but otherwise much finer than the other known specimen from these dies (Plowman MR.Xo.A), the reverse in fact a die-match with the previous lot from assayers P-M, one of just three known varieties for assayer oX. Pedigreed to the Sellschopp collection (Swiss Bank Corp., September 1988, lot 453), the Emilio Ortiz collection (Swiss Bank Corp., September 1991, lot 33) and the Richard Stuart collection, also Plate Coin in multiple references, as follows: Gaceta Numismatica (ANE) articles of March 1974 (page 30) and June 1989 (page 60); The Numismatist article of June 1990 (page 914); page 230 of Calico-Trigo's Numismatica espanola (2008); page 440 of Spain, Portugal and the New World (2002), by Krause-Mishler; and HR.1X on page 118 of The Forgotten Mint of Colonial Panama (2005), by Jorge Proctor." Cayón attributes the PA mintmark to Upper Peru (Potosi) but most authors attribute it to Panama City, which operated briefly in the reign of Philip II. An insalubrious climate and pirate attacks discouraged the development of a mint. Four, two, one and half reales were struck but all are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen is 1.42 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-3383, S-AP1; KM-1; Cal-134.
- 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.
- Krause, Chester L., and Colin R. Bruce II, Standard Catalog of World Coins: Spain, Portugal and the New World, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing and Connor Falk, Treasure Auction 34, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2023.
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