Peru (1)751-L R 1/2 real
This specimen was lot 74631 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2025), where it sold for $85. The catalog description[1] noted, "PERU. Cob 1/2 Real, 1751-L R. Lima Mint. Ferdinand VI. PCGS FINE-12. From the Richard August Collection." This type was struck 1747-51 just before the transition to milled coinage. Unlike other mints, the Lima mint managed to squeeze a mintmark and assayer initial onto its half real cobs but couldn't fit a four digit date. Cayón mentions assayer J for 1751 but such a coin probably doesn't exist. Assayer J introduced milled coinage at Lima but only stamped gold coins in 1751.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 1.91 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-10174, KM-41; Cal-44.
- 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 Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the Kirk Menczer Collection of Republican Decimal Minors and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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