View source for St. Vincent (1814-18) 4-1/2 bits

[[Image:St Vincent SB120-21088o.jpg|300px|thumb|Stack's Bowers 2020 NYINC sale, lot 21088]]
[[Image:St Vincent SB120-21088r.jpg|300px|thumb]]

This specimen was lot 21088 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $4,320. The catalog description<sup>[1]</sup> noted, <blockquote>"SAINT VINCENT. St. Vincent - [[Peru]]. 4-1/2 Bits (3 Shilling 9 Pence), ND (1814-18). NGC VG-8. Approved by council minutes 25 April 1814. Raised "S IV ./2 B" within cruciform indent countermark with a dot above the "/2" which presumably means "1/2" applied to the obverse of an 1807-LM JP Peru bust 2 Reales of Charles IIII (IV). VERY RARE host bust type with only 5 examples including the present survivor and a total of only 16 confirmed pieces as a general type for all host coins. The countermark is boldly applied though a hair uneven with well defined characters. The host exhibits nice honest wear consistent for being in circulation for a prolonged period of time with no major impairments to speak of. Attractive light golden-argent color grace the smooth surfaces with light grey in the open fields and nice slate patina in the protected areas. A lovely and wholesome problem free example of a type that seldom appears on the market."</blockquote> The [[British West Indies]] included Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad and the miscellaneous islands in between. Enormously prosperous in the eighteenth century, their economies would shrink considerably in the mid-nineteenth century with slave emancipation and the introduction of the sugar beet to Europe.

''Recorded mintage:'' unknown.

''Specification:'' 6.77 g, 0.896 fine silver (host coin).

''Catalog reference:'' KM-9.1 (same punch); Prid-13 (same punch); Wood-68 (same punch); ANS Collection-1916.192.873 (same punch). 

''[[Bibliography|Source:]]''
* Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, ''Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed.'', Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019. 
* Byrne, Ray, ''Coins and Tokens of the Caribees,'' Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
* Pridmore, F., ''The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the Reign of George VI 1952: Part 3, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras and the British West Indies,'' London: Spink & Son, 1965.
* <sup>[1]</sup>Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, ''The January 2020 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money,'' Santa Ana, CA: [http://www.stacksbowers.com Stack's Bowers LLC], 2019.

''Link to:''
* [[St. Vincent and the Grenadines (1797) 1/4 dollar]]
* [[St. Vincent (1811-14) 12 bits]], cut from a Peru 8 reales
* [[British West Indies 1820 1/16 dollar]]
* [[Coins and currency dated 1814]]

[[Category:Selections from the Stack's Bowers 2020 NYINC sale]][[Category:Cut and countermarked coinage of the Caribbean]]