Spain 1589-S 4 escudos
This specimen was lot 30377 in Heritage sale 3097 (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $11,400. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Spain: Philip II gold Cob 4 Escudos 1589-S MS64 NGC, Seville mint. Melchor Damián as assayer. Struck without assayer's initial, and only the last two digits of the date, arranged vertically below the denomination. An utterly singular gold Cob, and seemingly the only Seville-minted 4 Escudos to carry just the last two digits of the year below the denomination. The largest denomination minted under Philip II, the 4 Escudos from this reign typically follow a relatively formulaic layout--either the mintmark is located above the assayer's initial on the left of the shield and the denomination to the right, or, on the dated issues, the year replaces the denomination on the right of the shield, and the denomination is situated between the mintmark and assayer's initial. Indeed, Damián is known to have used this obverse layout on just a single 4 Reales he minted (cf. Cal-580). While the paucity of examples and their irregular flans make a careful die comparison impossible, it is hardly difficult to see the similarities between the two: both the coin plated by Calicó and an example recently sold by Jean Elsen (Auction 148, September 2021, Lot 964) share two "teeth" on the back of the top of S as does this coin, as well as an irregular area of extra metal (possibly from recutting) around the 8. As such, it may be possible that Damián reused a spare 4 Reales die in the striking of this coin, which likely could have been among the first dated emissions of the Seville mint. To the best of our knowledge, this is likely the only example available to commerce, and may perhaps be unique. From the Long Island Collection."
This example clearly lacks an assayer initial, which would normally be below the mintmark "S" (see the 1590-S D 4 escudos on this site). Both 1588 and 1590 are listed with assayer "D".
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.72 g, 0.917 fine gold; this specimen 13.48 g.
Catalog reference: cf. Fr-158, VQR-Unl., Cayón-Unlisted, Cal-890 (RRR; this coin), ORC-752 (same), Oro Macuquino-13 (same).
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, NYINC World Coins Platinum Night Auction 3097, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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