Mozambique 1843 onca
This specimen was lot 74132 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $720. The catalog description[1] noted, "MOZAMBIQUE. Onca (6 Cruzados), 1843. PCGS FINE-12. A crude emergency issue of what was then Portuguese East Africa. Approximately 35 x 21 mm, this issue is simple but elegant i[n] its presentation and should catch the attention of a number of collector groups." These obscure and crude ingots are a sign of the neglect Portugal gave her African colonies in the nineteenth century. In the 1840's, Angola and Mozambique were largely stations for the slave trade with Brazil, to the ire of the British navy, which was attempting to interdict the trade. Portugal issued some copper coins for Mozambique in 1820 and again in 1853, but otherwise ignored the region. The coin name, "onça", should be pronounced like the Spanish word "onza".
This specimen was lot 74133 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $720. The catalog description[1] noted, "MOZAMBIQUE. Onca (Canelo), ND (1851). Maria II. NGC FINE-12. KM-26.2; Gomes-12.02. Weight: 26.98 g. Rosette countermark over 1845-dated host. The three countermarks present boldly over the typical weakly struck host. A problem-free and deeply toned example of this hefty rectangular type."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: KM-26.1.
- 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, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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