Spain 1778-M PJ 1/2 escudo
This specimen was lot 25584 in Heritage sale 3019 (Chicago, April 2012), where it sold for $1,495. The catalog description[1] noted, "Carlos III gold 1/2 Escudo 1778M-PJ, MS65 NGC, a marvelous little coin with full glowing mint brilliance. Very scarce in this superior grade." This type was struck in Madrid 1772-85 (KM 415.1) and Seville 1773-83 (KM 415.2) and is not especially rare tho choice specimens are always in demand. 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. Assayer PJ is listed for 1765-81.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.901 fine gold, .049 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-12181, KM 415.1, Fr-290.
- 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 Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- 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]Tucker, Warren, and Cristiano Bierrenbach, World and Ancient Coins sale 3019, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2012.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
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