Mexico 1850-Go LR 1/4 real

Ponterio sale 159, lot 8095

photo courtesy Ponterio & Associates

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This type was struck at Guanajuato 1842-63. "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 government 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 8095 in Ponterio sale 159 (Baltimore, March 2011), where it sold for $977.50. The catalog description^[1] noted, "MEXICO. Guanajuato. 1/4 Real, 1850-GoLR. NGC MS-63." It was offered again as lot 41238 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $1,320.

Specification: 0.845 g, 0.903 fine silver.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Catalog reference: KM-368.5.

Source:

• Busse, Dave, A Minor Challenge: A Study of Mexican Republic Silver ¼, ½, 1, 2 and 4 Reales Die Styles,, Harlingen, TX: 2018.
• Buttrey, T. V., and Clyde Hubbard, A Guide Book of Mexican Coins, 1822 to date, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1992.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Utberg, Neil S., The Coins of Mexico, 1536-1963, San Antonio, TX, 1963.
• ^[1]Ponterio, Richard, Ponterio sale 159: the March 2011 Baltimore Auction, featuring the Len Novotny collection, Irvine, CA: Stack's-Bowers & Ponterio, 2011.

Link to:

• 1849-G^O ¼ real
• 1850-M^O 1/8 real
• 1850-M^O ¼ real
• 1850-D^O RM ½ real
• 1850-D^O JMR ½ real
• 1850-G^A ½ real
• 1850-GC ½ real
• 1850-G^O ½ real
• 1850-M^O ½ real
• 1850-P^I ½ real
• 1850-Z ½ real
• 1850-C real
• 1850-D^O real
• 1850-G^A real
• 1850-GC real
• 1850-G^O real
• 1850-M^O real
• 1850-P^I real
• 1850-Z^S real
• 1850-C 2 reales
• 1850-G^A 2 reales
• 1850-GC 2 reales
• 1850-G^O 2 reales
• 1850-M^O 2 reales
• 1850-P^I 2 reales
• 1850-Z^S 2 reales
• 1850-C 4 reales
• 1850-GC 4 reales
• 1850-G^O 4 reales
• 1850-M^O 4 reales
• 1850-P^I 4 reales
• 1850-Z^S 4 reales
• 1850-C 8 reales
• 1850-C^A 8 reales
• 1850-D^O 8 reales
• 1850-GC 8 reales
• 1850-G^O 8 reales
• 1850-M^O 8 reales
• 1850-P^I 8 reales
• 1850-Z^S 8 reales
• 1850-D^O ½ escudo
• 1850-M^O ½ escudo
• 1850-D^O escudo
• 1850-G^A 2 escudos
• 1850-C 8 escudos
• 1850-C^A 8 escudos
• 1850-D^O 8 escudos
• 1850-G^A 8 escudos
• 1850-GC 8 escudos
• 1850-G^O 8 escudos
• 1850-M^O 8 escudos
• 1851-G^O ¼ real
• Coins and currency dated 1850
• return to Mexican imperial and republican coinage, 1822-1905