Spain 1856-Seg 5 centimos
This specimen was lot 632 in Aureo y Calicó sale 261 (Barcelona, July 2014), where it sold for €65 (about US$104 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1856. Isabel II. Segovia. 5 céntimos de real. Bella. EBC+. (Isabel II, 1833-68, five céntimos de real of 1856, Segovia mint. Handsome, choice extremely fine.)"
This type was struck in Segovia 1854-64. It is one of the last coins to bear the aqueduct mintmark used since the sixteenth century. In 1850, the twenty reales was reduced to 26.91 grams and the copper maravedis dropped in favor of 1/20, 1/10 and 1/5 reales. Unfortunately, the government, financially prostrate as usual, was unable to remint the old coins, which continued to circulate as before. The coinage would be reformed a second time in 1866.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: copper, 1.62-2.16 g, 17-18 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Cayón-16531, KM 602, Cal. 613.
- 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.
- O'Connor, Patrick, The Coins of Queen Isabel II of Spain: A Detailed Study of the Coins, Patterns and Medals of Her Reign, San Antonio, TX: Aurora Rarities, LLC, 2017.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduardo Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Subasta Pública 261, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó Subastas, 2014.
- Krause, Chester L., and Colin R. Bruce II, Standard Catalog of World Coins: Spain, Portugal and the New World, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002.
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