Guatemala 1763-G 1/2 real

from the Acanthite collection

from the Acanthite collection

Shown is a 1763 ½ real from the Guatemala mint, of a type issued from 1760 to 1771. The Guatemala ½ real is the only example of Spanish colonial pillar coinage that omits the assayer's initial (should be P). Gilboy^[1] notes this date as 'R' or rare.

Mexican numismatists hotly debate which side of the coin constitutes the obverse. Gilboy^[1] depicts the shield side as the obverse as that side bears the king's name. However, auction catalogs and dealer listings more frequently use the pillars and globes side as the obverse, as that side bears the date.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specifications: 1.62 g, 0.917 fine silver, 0.0498 oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-11050, G-05-11, KM#23.

Sources:

• Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, vol. 1, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
• Krause, Chester L., and Colin R. Bruce II, Standard Catalog of World Coins: Eighteenth Century 1701-1800, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002.
• ^[1]Gilboy, Frank F., The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America: Spanish American Pillar Coinage, 1732 to 1772, Regina, Saskatchewan: Prairie Wind Publishing, 1999.
• Harris, Robert P., Pillars & Portraits, San José, CA: Bonanza Press, 1968.
• Robinson, Charles, The Coins of Central America, 1733-1965, San Benito, TX: 1965.
• Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.

Link to:

• 1760 1 real
• 1760 2 reales
• Mexico 1761-Mo M 1/2 real
• Peru 1761-L JM 1/2 real
• 1761 4 reales
• 1761 8 reales
• 1766 ½ real
• Coins and currency dated 1763
• return to coins of Guatemala