Goa 1823 1/2 xerafim

Stack's Bowers 2023 NYINC sale, lot 42204

This specimen was lot 42204 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $240. The catalog description^[1] noted, "INDIA. Portuguese India. Goa. 1/2 Xerafim (150 Reis), 1823. Goa Mint. Joao VI. NGC AU Details--Cleaned." The Portuguese were the first European power to make direct contact with India. They concentrated on trade but were not above piracy or political meddling if the opportunity arose. They conquered or dominated a good part of India in the sixteenth century but gradually had to yield to others, especially the British. By the nineteenth century, Portuguese holdings were limited to Diu, Damao and Goa. Each had a mint which struck hammered coinage until the 1860's. This type was struck 1818-20 and 1823.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 2.67-2.71 g, 0.917 fine silver, 22 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-236; Gomes-12.04.

Source:

• Alberto Gomes and Francisco Antonio Magro, Moedas Portuguesas e do Território Que Hoje é Portugal: Catálogo das Moedas Cunhadas para o Continentes e Ilhas Adjacentes, para os Territórios do Ultramar e Grão-Mestres Portugueses da Ordem de Malta, 6ª Edição, Lisbon: Associação Numismática de Portugal, 2013.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.

Link to:

• Goa 1820 1/2 xerafim = 150 réis
• 1820 pardao = 300 réis
• 1823 tanga
• 1825 rupia
• Goa (1828-34) 1/2 tanga = 30 réis
• Coins and currency dated 1823