Spain 1861 20 reales Fr-333
This specimen was lot 655 in Aureo y Calicó sale 261 (Barcelona, July 2014), where it sold for €220 (about US$353 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1861. Isabel II. Madrid. 20 reales. Escasa. MBC. (Isabel II, 1833-68, twenty reales of 1861, Madrid mint. Scarce, very fine.)"
This type was struck at Madrid 1861-63 to accompany the silver twenty reales but the denomination was abandoned after 1863. 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: 245,910, the only date not very rare.
Specification: 1.66 g, 0.900 fine silver, .048 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-17244, KM 610, Cal. 119, Fr-333.
- 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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