Venezuela 1858-H centavo
Though Venezuela declared independence in 1810 and fully routed Spanish troops from the region by 1821, it was not until the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830 that Venezuela became fully a sovereign nation. The 1858 proof one centavo shown was struck at the Heaton mint. It was lot 25014 and sold on Apr 16, 2011 at the 2011 April Rosemont Signature World & Ancient Coins CICF Auction #3014, for $2,760. The auction catalog description reads: "Republic Specimen Centavo 1858, PF65 RD NGC, vertical axis, plain edge. Incuse LIBERTAD variety of Heaton strike. From The Dana Roberts Collection." The second specimen was lot 2383 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $1,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA. Centavo, 1858-HEATON. Heaton Mint. NGC SPECIMEN-65 Red Brown. 'LIBERTAD' incuse variety. Perfectly struck with reflective fields that glow with nearly full red coloration. The edges are plain unlike the circulated issues that show oblique milling, and a result, considered a pattern by some. RARE in this quality with only one piece graded finer at NGC in the Red Brown tier with none at the Brown or Red tiers surpassing this coin in technical quality. From the Centuria Collection." Venezuela first attempted a decimal coinage in the 1840's with the introduction of copper ¼, ½ and one centavos struck in England. Another reform was tried 1873-76 with 100 centavos = one venezolano. This was abandoned in 1879 with a new issue more closely matching the system of the Latin Monetary Union, with one bolivar = one French franc. That system obtained until the end of silver coinage in the 1960's. This type was struck at Heaton 1858 and 1862-63; LIBERTAD comes either raised or incuse (shown here) but are priced about the same.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7.5 g, copper (the first specimen 4.64 g).
Catalog reference: KM Y7 (the first specimen KM Pn32).
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stohr, Tomas, El Circulante en la Capitania General de Venezuela, Caracas, Banco Central de Venezuela, 1998.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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