My most recent acquisition is worth the wait. Especially sweet is that I could of bought a nice example of this same coin at any time during the last eight or nine months.

I have an interest in collecting the entire series of 1870 Spanish Provisional Government coins. The copper coins come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Centimos. The silver coins come in denominations of 50 Centimos, 1, 2, and 5 Pesetas. There is also a gold 100 pesetas that is very rare. Needless to say I probably wont be adding that coin to my collection.

I have been spying out a nice MS-64 BN example of the 1 Centimo on E-Bay for quite some time. Interestingly, the seller advertised this coin as a former Heritage coin, so I looked it up. What I discovered was that the starting bid for the coin was twice the cost of the coin on Heritage. With that I placed the coin on my watch list and waited for the seller to lower the starting bid.

The seller of the MS-64 coin kept re-listing the coin at the same starting bid for eight or nine months. Finally, last Sunday evening another seller listed a MS-65 RB example of the the 1 Centimo as a true auction and I set up a snip at 1 dollar higher than the MS-64 coin. When the hammer went down Sunday evening, I was delighted to own a nicer coin at $25 less than the starting bid of the MS-64 example.

As a series these coins are very difficult to find in MS condition. However, they are much easier to find in lower circulated grades. Of many millions minted, NGC only grades 27 mint-state coins in BN, RB,and RD and there are only two MS-66 RD coins that are higher graded than mine.

For the series I currently own this coin, the 10 Centimo in MS-64 BN, the 2 Peseta in AU-53, and the 5 Peseta in XF-40. Incidentally, I am watching a AU-55 example of the 5 Peseta on eBay in which the seller wants more than $700.00. Needless to say I will keep my XF-40 piece, thank-you very much!

Gary

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