Spain (1505)-S S real
This specimen was lot 33539 in Heritage sale 3106 (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $5,520. The catalog description[1] noted, "Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo. Ferdinand & Isabella (1474-1504) Real ND (from 1505)-S VF35 NGC, Seville mint. Gothic legend. Among the earliest pieces coined for use in the Americas, specifically for circulation in the newly established colony of Santo Domingo a few years prior. Coins such as this were ordered by Ferdinand V (the Catholic) on April 15, 1505, with the shipment received in Santa Domingo in December of that year by governor Nicolás de Ovando. Of paramount importance to Spanish, colonial, and American collectors alike, especially so with the assigned straight-grade, indicating moderate usage in early colonial commerce." Cayón does not mention any association of this issue with the New World. It is very similar to one reales struck in Seville and elsewhere in Spain with the addition of a crowned "F" (something Isabella would never have permitted while she was alive). Later, a mint was set up in Santo Domingo and distinctive coinage was struck there.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.38 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 3.08 g.
Catalog reference: Cal-445, Cayón-2695.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, vol. 1, 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.
- Krause, Chester L., and Colin R. Bruce II, Standard Catalog of World Coins: Spain, Portugal and the New World, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2023 January 17 - 18 NYINC World & Ancient Coins Signature Auction #3106, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2022.
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