Spain 1812-M AI 4 reales
This specimen was lot 1450 in Aureo y Calicó sale 391 (Barcelona, June 2022), where it sold for €80 (about US$101 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1812. José Napoleón. Madrid. AI. 4 reales. Rayitas. Parte de brillo original. Escasa. MBC/MBC+. (kingdom of Spain, Joseph Napoleon, four reales of 1812, Madrid mint. Scratched, some luster remaining, scarce, very fine or better.)"
This Spanish four reales de vellon was struck in Madrid during the regime of José Napoleon, the French emperor's older brother and reluctant puppet king of Spain 1808-14. The "de vellon" coinage system, used 1808-50, set twenty reales = one peso instead of the traditional eight. The coins minted using that standard were not marked in any way different from the concurrent eight reales standard, a source of confusion for collectors today, It must have been a major irritant for the inhabitants of the time. This type was struck 1810-13. The gold coins of his regime are scarce to rare, likely because Napoleon was extracting large quantities of gold for the French war machine.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 5.41 g, 0.903 fine silver, .157 troy oz ASW, this specimen 5,89 g.
Catalog reference: KM 540.1, AC. 18, Cayón-14676.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Subasta Numismática 391, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó, 2022.
Links to:
- 1811-M AI 4 reales
- Catalonia 1812 3 quartos
- 1812-Seg 8 maravedis
- 1812-M real
- 1812-C CI 2 reales
- 1812-C SF 2 reales
- 1812-M IJ 2 reales
- 1812-S 4 reales de vellon
- 1812-C 4 reales, Catalunya mint
- 1812-M 10 reales
- Barcelona 1812 5 pesetas
- 1812-M 20 reales
- 1812-S 20 reales
- 1812-C 8 reales, Catalunya mint
- 1812-M 8 reales
- Barcelona 1812 20 pesetas
- 1812-C 2 escudos
- 1812-M 2 escudos
- 1812-M 80 reales
- 1812-M 320 reales
- 1813-M 4 reales de vellon
- Coins and currency dated 1812
- return to Spanish pre-decimal coinage (maravedis, reales and escudos)