Tunisia (1630-80) nasri
This specimen was lot 21095 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $3,360. The catalog description[1] noted, "TUNISIA. Tunisia - Mexico. Cob 8 Reales, ND (c.1630-80). Ottoman Empire. PCGS GOOD-06 Gold Shield; Countermark: VF Details. Arabic script countermark "Sarf (year) co[r]rect size and weight" within solid square boarder within beaded boarder applied to the reverse of a significantly cut down (in modern times) Mexico 8 Reales probably of Philip IV. Countermark slightly uneven obscuring the date of the countermark. Otherwise a lightly toned and attractive issue with less than a dozen different examples known for all denominations. A VERY RARE and very interesting issue showing the vast distance that Mexican coinage traveled. The attribution to Tunisia is based on a hoard of about 1000 cob 4 Reales found in a remote village in Tunisia where 3 examples were countermarked and that the countermarks themselves, with one exception, Wilski-Tun 206, are the same shape and dimensions as the contemporary Nasri (square akches). The place of discovery and similarity to the Tunisian Nasri strongly suggest Tunisia as the place of countermarking. From the Kyle Ponterio Collection." We are calling this a nasri even tho it is almost certainly was not a nasri; the nasri was a tiny billon coin weighing less than a gram.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver (host coin); this specimen 16.17 g.
Catalog reference: Wilski-Tun 203 (plate coin).
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2020 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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