Peru 1776-L MJ 1/2 real
This specimen was lot 3421 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $1,320. The catalog description[1] noted, "PERU: Carlos III, 1759-1788, AR 1/2 real, Lima, 1776-L, assayer LM, popular date of U.S. Independence, PCGS graded AU58." This type was struck 1772-84. There was a slight debasement in 1785 to 0.896 fine but the design was not changed, the debasement being kept secret. The assayer is MJ (1773-79), not LM. As a class, colonial coinage of Peru is much less plentiful than that of Mexico, tho it is more available than the remaining mints. However, Harris[2] noted only one-sixth as many Peruvian half reales of Charles IV as that of Mexico, so it is safe to say that this type is scarce.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Cayón-11138, KM-74, Calico-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, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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