Spain 1742-S PJ 1/2 escudo
This specimen was lot 72257 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $456. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPAIN. 1/2 Escudo, 1742-S PJ. Seville Mint. Philip V. PCGS EF-45. This wholesome looking example exhibits a good strike with even wear with minor earthen deposits amongst the devices." Half escudos were struck in metropolitan Spain 1738-97 in considerable numbers and are quite a bit more common than their silver equals, the eight reales. This is opposite from Latin America, where silver pesos were minted in vast quantities but half escudos would not be minted until the reign of Ferdinand VII. This half escudo was struck 1738, 1742-46 at the Seville mint. Assayers PJ and JP are recorded for the year 1742.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a better date.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.917 fine gold, 0.0498 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-240; KM-361.2; Cal-type-127 # 582, Cayón-9474.
- 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.
- 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, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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