Spain 1812-M AI 80 reales

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Aureo sale 232, lot 235

This Spanish eighty reales de vellon was struck in Madrid during the regime of José Napoleon, the French emperor's older brother. 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. The specimen shown was lot 235 in Aureo y Calicó sale 232 (Barcelona, March 2011), where it sold for 1,300 € (about US$2,145 including buyer's fee). The catalog description[1] noted,

"Dominación Francesa. 1812/1. Madrid. AI. 80 reales. Bella. Parte de brillo original. Escasa y más así. EBC-/EBC (French domination, eighty reales of 1812, Madrid mint, 1812/1 overdate. Handsome, some original luster, scarce thus, extremely fine.)"

This type was struck 1811-13 for Joseph Napoleon, Napoleon's brother and reluctant puppet king of Spain 1808-14. 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: 238,000.

Specification: 6.77 g, .875 fine gold, .190 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-14724 (overdate), KM 552, Cal. 10.

Source:

  • 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, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduardo Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Selección de 500 Monedas, Medallas y Billetes, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó Subastas, 2012.

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