Spain 1862 40 reales 6 point star
The specimen shown was lot 540 in Aureo y Calicó sale 233 (Barcelona, April 2011), where it sold for 290 euros (about US$483 including buyer's fee). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1862. Madrid. 40 reales. Brillo original. Bellísima. Escasa así. EBC+. (Forty reales of 1862, Madrid mint. Lustrous, nice, scarce thus, choice extremely fine.)"
This type was struck in Barcelona and Madrid 1861-64. Instead of the traditional mintmarks the issues are distinguished by six or eight pointed stars on the reverse (for Madrid and Barcelona). 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: 229,504.
Specification: 3.33 g, 0.900 fine gold, .097 troy oz AGW (matches the old one escudo).
Catalog reference: Cayón-17265, KM 616.2, Cal. 104, Fr-332a.
- 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, COLECCIÓN ANASTASIA DE QUIROGA, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó Subastas, 2011.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
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