Guatemala 1768-G P real
Shown is a 1768 one real from the Guatemala mint, of a type issued 1760-1771. All pillar coinage from Guatemala is scarce and many issues are rare. Gilboy[1] notes this date as "R3" or "very rare," indicating that less than 25 are believed to exist. This particular coin is a rarer variety, in which an upside-down V replaces the A in HISPAN. Gilboy lists this variety as "R4" or extremely rare, with 4-10 known to exist. Unlike the other colonial mints, Guatemala seems to have issued more four reales than any other denomination. Gilboy marks the half, one and two reales as "rare" and the eight reales as "scarce" to "normal." None are marked as common. Guatemala issues are notably cruder than other mints as evidenced by the filled letters.
In 1741, the Mexico City mint revised the shield side of design to allow the crown to interrupt the legend; this was never done in Guatemala.
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.
Specification: 3.38 g, 0.917 fine silver, 0.099 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-11285, G-1-17, KM 16.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Harris, Robert P., Pillars & Portraits, San José, CA: Bonanza Press, 1968.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [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.
- Yonaka, Brad, A Variety Guide to the Pillar Coinage of the Guatemala, Bogota, Lima, Potosi, and Santiago Mints, 1752-1771, Long Beach, CA: Agorocu Consulting, 2018.
Link to: