Venezuela 1874-A 10 centavos
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 first republican coinage was denominated in centavos and reales. After the first coinage reform of 1871, the denomination real was abandoned in the transition to the decimal system, being replaced by venezolano, such that 100 centavos = one venezolano. The official title of the country from 1864 was 'Estados Unidos de Venezuela', a name it would carry until 1953, when the constitution mandated a return to the name 'Republica de Venezuela'.
The 1874 ten centavos shown was struck at the Paris mint (A). The denomination is written only as a weight (GRAM 2,5). This specimen was lot 1760 in Stacks-Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2015), where it sold for $10,575. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA. 10 Centavos (Real), 1874-A. NGC SP-65. Paris mint Proof for the new Bolivar portrait coinage, designed by Albert Desire Barre. The first year of issue for this two year only type, produced under the order of June 11 1873. Some authorities believe these Proof or Specimen issues are actually patterns of the adopted design. Tied for finest certified by NGC with one other coin, that being the Richard Lissner example. Very attractive dark blue and multicolored toning on hard proof or specimen surfaces. EXTREMELY RARE."
Recorded mintage: 800,000 plus proofs.
Specification: 2.5 g, 0.835 fine silver, 0.067 oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM Y-13.1; Stohr-26.
- 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]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.
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