Port Glasgow (1820) 4 shillings 6 pence KM-CC91
This specimen was lot 21461 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $7,200. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCOTLAND. Scotland - Mexico. Renfrewshire. Port Glasgow. 4 Shilling 6 Pence, ND (ca. 1820's). NGC VF Details--Holed. Issued by Alexander Steven & Sons, Port Glasgow. Countermark: 4/6 within corded border surrounded by: "A. Steven & Sons. PT Glasgow" applied to the obverse of an 1818-Mo JJ Mexico Bust 8 Reales of Ferdinand VII. An EXTREMELY RARE issuer with only seven recorded examples in Manville, most of which are permanently impounded in institutional collections, making this survivor a newly discovered eighth specimen. The countermark is deeply applied, though slightly cockeyed, on a moderately worn host. The surfaces are relatively smooth displaying rich mottled patina with minor earthen deposits amongst the devices. A hole after the date accounts for the details designation adding a bit of character to this seldom encountered issuer. Despite its shortcomings a presentable example that is sure to excite even the most advanced of collectors."
Scotland in the early nineteenth century was tearing into the Industrial Revolution and manufacturers were eager for coin to facilitate trade. As the Royal Mint could not keep up, many private issues appeared. Spanish dollars circulated freely and many of these were countermarked; the SCWC records over a hundred different countermarks. Today they are all rare. A very similar countermarked dollar (KM-CCA91) is known valued at five shillings instead of four and six.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: host coin: 27.07 g, 0.903 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-CC91; Manville-89.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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