Spain 1778-S CF 1/2 escudo
This specimen was lot 76298 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2025), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPAIN. 1/2 Escudo, 1778-S CF. Seville Mint. Charles III. VERY FINE." 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 CF is listed for 1768-83. Cayón reports a 1778/7 overdate.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.69 g, 0.901 fine gold, .049 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-12183, Fr-291; KM-415.2; Cal-1309.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients, World Coins & World Paper Money, David B. Simpson Medals & World Coins Part 1, Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection, and Selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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