Peru 1961-ZBR libra
This specimen was lot 1854 in Stephen Album sale 27 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2017), where it sold for $470. The catalog description[1] noted, "PERU: AV libra, 1961. Initials ZBR, better date, semi-prooflike, mintage of only 402 pieces! NGC graded MS64, R." The gold libra superseded the silver sol as Peru's main unit of currency in 1898. The libra weighed the same as a British sovereign and equalled ten soles. The type was struck 1898-1930 and again 1959-69, along with 1/5 libras and half libras. By 1961, the libra was no longer a circulating coin but a bullion unit, minted to circumvent U.S. regulations on trading in gold.
Recorded mintage: 402.
Specification: 7.99 g, 0.917 fine gold, .2354 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-73, KM 207.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 27, featuring the Dr. Paul Stevens Collection of Indian Coins, Part VI, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2016.
- 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, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
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