Spain 1744-S PJ 1/2 escudo
This specimen was lot 33711 in Heritage sale 3073 (Chicago, April 2019), where it sold for $504. The catalog description[1] noted, "Philip V gold 1/2 Escudo 1744 S-PJ MS62 NGC, Seville mint. Rosettes in legend. A highly attractive, prooflike specimen with reflective fields and an exquisite portrait of Philip." This type was struck 1738-46 in Madrid (KM 361.1) and Seville (KM 361.2) and is not especially rare tho scarcer than later issues of Charles III. 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.917 fine gold, .050 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-9483 (regular date) or Cayón-9482 (1744/3), KM 361.2.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 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.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3073, featuring the Lake County Collection of British coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
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