Venezuela (1817) real cob
This is a specimen of a type issued 1802-21 by the royalists or republicans in Caracas, Venezuela. Like most local issues produced outside the major mints (Lima, Potosi, etc.), it usually comes crudely struck. This type is of the 'cob' style and has only three numbers representing the date. The city fell to the Colombians in 1821, who issued silver quarter reales (KM C31). Venezuela attained separate independence in 1830.
The first specimen was lot 7616 in Ponterio sale 155 (Baltimore, November 2010), where it sold for $3,540. The catalog description[1] reads: "VENEZUELA. Caracas. Real, 781 (1817). LM on obverse, LM on reverse. Toned. ABOUT VERY FINE."
The second specimen was lot 7618 in Ponterio sale 155 (Baltimore, November 2010), where it sold for $2,921. The catalog description[1] reads: "VENEZUELA. Caracas. Real. ML/LM on obverse, ML on reverse. Lustrous. CHOICE EXTREMELY FINE."
The third specimen was lot 7617 in Ponterio sale 155 (Baltimore, November 2010), where it sold for $2,921. The catalog description[1] reads: "VENEZUELA. Caracas. Real, 42. LM/ML on obverse. Light encrustation, slightly bent. VERY FINE."
The fourth specimen was lot 1750 in Stack's-Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2015), where it sold for $4,406.25. The catalog description[2] noted, "VENEZUELA. Barinas. Caujaral. Real, 1241. NGC AU-53. KM-2; Rosenman-pg.27/33. Variant with four digit fictional date. Rosenman describes this type as 'The unacceptable 1 Real' in his reference work on imitation cobs of Venezuela and Colombia. This necessity issue was produced in quite a different manner than many of the other provincial mints, which began producing imitation provisional cob coins during and shortly after the War of Independence with Spain. The dies were locally engraved in a crude manner containing numerals and letters at random. Most, if not all of the coinage is light weight, apparently struck to no specific weight standard. In fact many of the 1 Reales of this series are closer in weight to that of a 1/2 Real. It is clear that a coinage of this nature would not have been met with approval by the populace. The large number of dies found in this series would indicate a rather large mintage, however the coins today remain quite scarce. Most likely most were melted due to rejection. Well struck with some original luster. Quite RARE grade for this type."
The fifth specimen was lot 1211 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $3,900. The catalog description[3] noted, "Caracas, Venezuela, provisional "imitation cob" 1 real, fantasy date "931" (ca. 1813), quadrants of cross transposed, very rare, NGC XF 45. Bold strike with satin-smooth fields and even dark color all over, well-centered cross but off-center pillars with bold date and "mintmark" L (top right) and "assayer" M (bottom right, followed by colon, and left of cross), much rarer than the 2 reales in this series. Although current references attribute all examples of this design to the Caracas series, in fact the style of lion and castle punches (among less obvious elements) on some 1R specimens like this one are not known for other Caracas issues, to the point that most experts now agree these other 1R could have been made in Santa Marta, Colombia (from the ca.-1813 issues of Viceroy Montalvo) in imitation of the Caracas coins (see the 2011 article "Acerca de las acunaciones del Virrey Montalvo," by Colombian numismatist Jorge Becerra, on pp. 9-13 of Numiscol's Boletin Numismatico #90); however, no documentary evidence has been found so far to support this."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 2.2-3.11 g, silver, the fifth specimen 2.15 grams.
Catalog reference: KM C-12; Stohr-3. The fifth specimen Stohr 9A; Rosenman p. 25 fig 8; Guttag-4146.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, and Kent Ponterio, The November 2010 Baltimore Auction, Irvine, CA: Bowers and Merena, 2010.
- [2]Ponterio, Richard, The January 2015 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Featuring the John W. Adams and Ray Czabor Collections, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2014.
- [3]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 28, featuring the Dr. Peter Jones and John O'Brien collections, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2020.
Link to: