Mexico 1859-Mo LR 1/4 real

Ponterio sale 159, lot 8107

photo courtesy Ponterio & Associates

from the Mountain Groan Collection

The type was struck at Mexico City 1842-63, all with the engraver's initials, LR, used instead of the traditional assayers' initials. "Lion and castle" quarter reals were struck before independence but their issue ceased in 1821. State coppers were meant to fill the gap but their abusive overissue forced the central goverment to issue these tiny silver coins (face value 3¼¢) in an attempt to displace them. They were issued by the Chihuahua (mintmark "Ca", rare), Culiacan (mintmark "C", rare), Durango (mintmark "Do", not common), Guadalajara (mintmark "Ga", common), Guadalupe y Calvo (mintmark "GC", rare), Guanajuato (mintmark "Go", common), Mexico City (mintmark "Mo", common), San Luis Potosí (mintmark "SLPi", common) and Zacatecas (mintmark "Zs", common) mints. Many individual dates are very rare. Counterfeits exist. The conversion to decimal coinage in the 1860's terminated the denomination. The first specimen was lot 8107 in Ponterio sale 159 (Baltimore, March 2011), where it sold for $230. The catalog description^[1] noted, "MEXICO. Mexico City. 1/4 Real, 1859-MoLR. NGC MS-64."

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: .84 g, 0.903 fine silver, .024 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: KM 368.6.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Buttrey, T. V., and Clyde Hubbard, A Guide Book of Mexican Coins, 1822 to date, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1992.
• ^[1]Ponterio, Richard, Ponterio sale 159: the March 2011 Baltimore Auction, featuring the Len Novotny collection, Irvine, CA: Stack's-Bowers & Ponterio, 2011.

Links to:

• Zacatecas 1858 1/4 real
• 1858-M^O ¼ real
• Jalisco 1859 1/8 real
• San Luis Potosi 1859 1/4 real
• San Luis Potosi 1859 1/8 real
• Uruapan 1859 1/8 real
• Zacatecas 1859 1/8 real
• Zacatecas 1859 1/4 real
• Sinaloa 1859 1/4 real
• Sonora 1859 1/4 real
• 1859-M^O ½ real
• 1859-M^O real
• 1859-M^O real
• 1859-G^O 2 reales
• 1859-M^O 2 reales
• 1859-G^A 4 reales
• 1859-G^O 4 reales
• 1859-C 8 reales
• 1859-C^A 8 reales
• 1859-D^O 8 reales
• 1859-G^A JG 8 reales
• 1859-G^O 8 reales
• 1859-M^O 8 reales
• 1859-O^A 8 reales
• 1859-P^I MC 8 reales
• 1859-P^I PS 8 reales
• 1859-Z^S MO 8 reales
• 1859-Z^S VL 8 reales
• 1859-D^O ½ escudo
• 1859-G^A ½ escudo
• 1859-G^O ½ escudo
• 1859-M^O ½ escudo
• 1859-D^O escudo
• 1859-G^A escudo
• 1859-M^O escudo
• 1859-G^A 2 escudos
• 1859-M^O 2 escudos
• 1859-C 8 escudos
• 1859-C^A 8 escudos
• 1859-D^O 8 escudos
• 1859-G^O 8 escudos
• 1859-M^O 8 escudos
• 1859-Z^S 8 escudos
• 1860-Mo ¼ real
• Coins and currency dated 1859
• return to Mexican imperial and republican coinage, 1822-1905