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jgenn

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Journal Entries posted by jgenn

  1. jgenn
    What intrigues me the most about the coins in my collection is their place in history and the circumstances of their issue.  I enjoy doing the research -- light research, that is, using online resources -- and I'm often surprised by the details that I uncover.  Consider one of the most beautiful South American coins, the "sun face" issues of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, that we now associate with Argentina.  If not for the shifting fortunes of war during the struggle for independence from Spanish rule, these might not have been minted.   In the early 19th Century, the Spanish Empire was in turmoil.  Napoleon Bonaparte forced the abdication of the Spanish King in 1809 and in Buenos Aries, the capital city of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a junta took control after the May Revolution of 1810.  Many years of warfare between separatist and loyalist armies ensued, especially across the province of Alto Perú, the region that would eventually become Bolivia.  Victories in September of 1812 and February 1813 left the independence forces in control of the mint at Potosí. Seizing their opportunity, the general assembly in Buenos Aires authorized the minting of their first national coinage and provided the design characteristics in April of 1813.  Soon after, gold one, two and eight escudos and silver 1/2, one, two, four and 8 reales were being minted at Potosí featuring the sun face on the obverse and a variation of the newly created coat of arms on the reverse.   I find it interesting that the activities of the mint during these transitions seems to have continued with a few obvious changes. The mint was the property of the crown so those with official positions may have retreated with the royalist army.  The coins of the Provincias Unidas featured the initial "J" of assayer Jose Antonio de Sierra and not those of the royal assayers, Pedro Martin de Albizu and Juan Palomo y Sierra ("PJ").  The mines, however, were private ventures and, although the mintage is unknown, the quantity of coins that were produced suggest that ore extraction, smelting and refining continued as well.  Since the mint's function was converting precious metal into currency, it provided a necessary service for the mining industry to fund their operations.  Striking of the Provincias Unidas issues continued until November 1813 when military defeats caused a withdrawal from the area.  The retreating general ordered the destruction of the mint but the locals disconnected the fuses from the explosives.  The averted disaster was a boon for both sides as the mint was retaken and another issue of Provincias Unidas coins were produced between April and November of 1815 with the same design and the initial "F" of assayer Francisco Jose de Matos.  The mint reverted back to royalist control and continued to strike Spanish coins until Bolivia secured its independence in 1825.   Had the mint at Potosí not become available when it did, I wonder what the early coinage of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata would have looked like.  Regular issues would not start until 1824 from the mint at La Rioja and with many, many changes in leadership since early 1813 it's unlikely that the same decision makers were in power.  Fortunately, we can enjoy the sun face design, known as the Sol de Mayo from the story that the sun shone forth from the clouds at the declaration of the new, independent government in May of 1810. The design is similar to the heraldic device called the 'sun in splendor', notable for having alternating straight and wavy rays. Other coins of South and Central America are noted for their sun face theme.   ~jack
  2. jgenn
    I have posted about emergency issues but what kind of calamity could compare to your city besieged?  Siege money are the ultimate emergency issues -- defending soldiers required pay and internal commerce needed to be maintained.  Many examples come from the period of the Eighty Years War, also known as the Dutch War of Independence that occurred from 1568–1648 or from the English Civil Wars in 1642-1651.    When regular coinage became scarce jewelry, silverware and religious vessels were converted into coinage.  Issued in an expedient fashion, they were often roughly shaped, typically squares or diamonds, with a uniface design. When precious metal ran out, other alloys or even paper could be issued, all in the hope that the emergency money would be redeemed after a successful defense.  The opposite was the worse case scenario where one might lose everything. My example is a silver thaler klippe issued by the besieged city of Münster in 1660 and fits nicely into my Silver Dollars of '60 custom set.  At 34mm x 34mm square and weight close to 28g it may not be silver dollar shaped but certainly has the heft of one.  The uniface design shows the city of Münster's coat of arms with the legend MONAST : WESTPH : OBSESSVM, for Münster Westphalia Beseiged.  It differs from typical siege currency in that it was not from wartime but from an insurrection that began in July of 1660.  The catalog notes from the CNG auction of the Jonathan K. Kern Collection of Siege Coinage provides the following background information:
    :

  3. jgenn
    I won this thaler recently and immediately received a "buy from owner" offer through Heritage for a decent increase over my winning bid. This one is destined for my Silver Dollars of '60 set so I didn't respond to the offer but I did post a trade offer in several forums that I frequent, hoping to catch the eye of the individual that really wants this coin. I haven't received a response from the trade offers but I did get a second, higher offer through Heritage after the first one expired.
    So what's so special about this thaler? I know why it's special to me so I was willing to bid higher than I expected.  But obviously someone else really wanted it (and didn't put in a high enough proxy bid).  I found only two other auction records for coins closely matching this one on acsearch although there were quite a few that were similar. Most of my references don't go back to the 16th Century, but I dug out my copy of the "Standard Price Guide to World Crowns & Talers 1484-1968 as cataloged by Dr. John S. Davenport" for further information. Given the span of years, this reference is not much more than a listing of Davenport numbers with a few notes, out-of-date prices with a small fraction having coin images (and none matching my coin). However, it does include the following introduction to Mansfeld thalers:
    So, no small task to figure out the correct Daveport number without a picture. In my photo, you can see the mintmark to the left of St. George's head. German auction results associate the Weinblatt (or grape leaf) mintmark with the town of Einsleben. The Davenport reference shows a section for the Vorderort Eisleben line with Davenport numbers 9481-9499 and the first rulers listed are Johann Georg I, Peter Ernst I, Christoph II, 1558-1569. These track better than any others with my coin having the legend on the obverse of -- IOHAN * GE * PETER ERNS * CHRIS -- with the (15)60 date. It looks like the possible numbers are 9481 and 9484 -- the NGC label says 9484 so maybe that's correct.
    The historic lands of the counts of Mansfeld, and their many lines, was in the current German state of Saxony-Anhalt and included the town and castle of Mansfeld, the neighboring town of Eisleben and eastern foothills of the Harz mountains, where the silver was mined.  Martin Luther was born in Eisleben and later moved to Mansfeld -- his father was involved in mining and smelting.  Of the rulers noted on my coin, Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort (1517–1604), would become the governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
    I'm not convinced that there's anything special about this thaler above and beyond its full strike and the colorful toning in the remnants of luster in the legends.  Perhaps in Europe ...?
    ~jack

  4. jgenn

    2016 Journal Award Icon

    By jgenn,

    I don't know why it took an entire year to finally create the 2016 journal award icon, that now only appears on your profile page, but lo and behold it finally showed up to replace the broken link icon that I have gotten used to staring at.

  5. jgenn
    In February of 1797, ongoing war and the threat of invasion from the French Republic triggered a run on the Bank of England.  To meet the demand for silver coinage, in March, the Bank was authorized to release foreign currency from its silver reserves, almost entirely Spanish 8 reales.  These emergency issues were countermarked at the Royal Mint with a small oval stamp with the bust of King George III -- a stamp that had been in use for hallmarking silver plate.  One of my earliest journal posts featured an example of this type.  The dollars had a fixed value of 4 shillings and 9 pence but as the price of silver dropped counterfeiters began passing 8 reales with false stamps and eventually forced the recall of these issues in the Fall of 1797.  In 1803, renewed war once again affected silver circulation and countermarked 8 reales were issued in January of 1804 using an octagonal stamp of the king's head.  False stamps quickly followed and forced the recall of the issues by June of 1804.  
    Clearly a method that would be hard to counterfeit was needed.  Fortunately, for the Bank of England, the Soho Foundry of Matthew Boulton and James Watt had been established with Boulton's newly invented steam powered screw press.  In May of 1804 the foundry was commissioned to use a previously designed dollar pattern to fully overstrike the 8 reales.  These issues were much harder to counterfeit and proved to be so successful that they were issued from 1804 to 1811, although all show the 1804 date, and were not removed from circulation until 1816.
    The power of the steam driven press typically obliterated the host coin's details, but occasionally you will see one that still shows some underlying details and that's what attracted me to my example. This one, a new purchase from Heritage Auctions, is a raw example so I took the opportunity to examine it in detail.  Curiously, a section of the host coin is thinner -- where CAROLUS is visible under George's bust and ET IND shows on the reverse.  I can make out a date of 180? but I can't see a mintmark.  Of interest is the edge which still shows much of the alternating rectangle and circle design albeit oddly curving from top to bottom.
    Now the funny part.  This coin only weights 25.67 grams and compared to a full weight 8 reales at 27.0674 grams, even with loss to circulation, it seemed too low.  That plus the uneven thickness and the wandering edge design made me suspicious.  So I measured the thickness (averaged over four spots) and diameter and calculated its volume.  After converting the volume from cubic mm to cubic cm you can divide the weight by volume to get the specific gravity.  A 90% silver/10% copper coin has a specific gravity of 10.3 but mine is 9.5 which means there could only be about 40% silver content.  Assuming that the overstrike is genuine (I have to trust Heritage on that) this appears to be a contemporary counterfeit 8 reales host coin ("contemporary" meaning that it circulated at the same time as genuine issues) .  Now, I'm not at all disappointed to discover this -- I think it's a much more interesting coin this way.  8 reales have been heavily counterfeited over time and the problem remains between distinguishing contemporary ones, later ones made for trade with China and modern forgeries.  With the overstrike occurring in the 1804-1811 time-frame, this one falls into the contemporary counterfeit category (a collectable category on its own).
    ~jack

     

    edits for typos and clarity.
  6. jgenn

    A Hard Year, A Great Year

    By jgenn,


    1860 5 Lire
    No, I'm not talking about this year which I can only call another strange year, but rather, the year 1860.  In trying to broaden my Silver Dollars of '60 custom set, I researched the silver dollar-like coins issued from European nations in 1860 and I believe there are only two.  By this time, thalers had shrunk to 33mm and 18.52g so they no longer fit my definition of silver dollar size!  Having already acquired a nice 20 reales of Spain (38mm, 26.291g), I was stuck with finding the 5 lire of the Kingdom of Sardinia (37mm, 25g), a coin with a mintage of only 5,044.  That is one hard year!   But, why such a small mintage?  In 1859 the Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia had launched an effort to reunify the Italian states and successfully concluded several military campaigns with their French ally against Austria.  In 1860 the Kingdom proceeded to gain support from other Northern Italian States through plebiscite and achieved decisive military victories against the papal army and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.  Warfare is expensive so my guess is that silver stocks were depleted leading to the low mintage of coins for general circulation.   The political and military successes of 1860 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy with the King of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele II, it's first ruler of a united Italy since the 6th century.  Clearly, for those that benefited from a unified Italy, 1860 was a great year.   I finally tracked down an example of the silver dollar-like coin from the Kingdom of Sardinia, dated 1860.  This coin was minted in the principle city of Piedmont, Turin, as denoted by the eagle head mintmark.  Turin was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy until 1865.   ~jack
  7. jgenn
    would smell as sweet -- but a better photograph can't hurt!
    My original title for this post was 'Most Subtly Improved', a nod to Gary and Alan's recent posts about their photography, but I could't resist the Shakespearean jest. As my photography skills slowly progress I have greatly improved many of my early coin images but sometimes it's the ones with a subtle improvement that can really catch your attention. That's the case with my Pezza della Rosa or Rose Dollar and I hope you'll agree. The nature of the design is such that nearly any photograph cannot detract from its inherent beauty,
    My initial focus for collecting was the portrait eight reales of Charles III of Spain. To be honest, I have become quite bored of seeing his bust; and those of monarchs in general. When I broadened my collecting interest to all world crowns I actively sought other types of design. I became particularly enamored with the pezza della rosa, from Livorno in the Italian state of Tuscany. Interestingly, it's one of several crown sized silver coins that were minted there. Ducats or piastra were made to trade on par with the high value ducatons from the Dutch Republic. Talleros had a value equal to the thalers of the German states. The pezza della rosa, also known as pezza da otto reali, was the local equivalent of the Spanish 8 reales. As an important port and trading center, having local coins with similar values to foreign coins eased commerce and gave the ruler the seigniorage, the profit on the difference between the face value and cost to produce the coins.
    My example is from 1707, during the reign of Cosimo III, the penultimate head of the famous Medici family. Initially, I lit the coin with a typical 2:00 and 10:00 arrangement. For my slightly improved version, I positioned a Jansjo at a low angle at 12:00 and one at a slightly higher angle but also near 12:00 to light the bottom half of the coin. For these early milled, lower relief coins, I seem to get better results from a setup that tries to approximate the 'in-hand' look.
    ~jack

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  8. jgenn

    A Silver Crown of Ireland

    By jgenn,


    Irish Crown
    There may not be a true silver crown of an independent Ireland. The closest that I have uncovered would be the silver crown, presumably issued by the Catholic Confederacy of Kilkenny, in 1642-43, although the few examples that appear in auction sales appear to be less than 25g in weight.  These coins are also quite rare.  The next closest example of an Irish silver crown, which I was able to acquire, might just be the "Ormond" crown of the same time (1643-1644), issued by the Earl of Ormond, James Butler, commander of the royalist army in Ireland.  At least it is a silver crown sized coin (my example is 29.71g), most likely minted in Dublin, and during the time when there was an independent government that controlled two-thirds of the island.  This brief period of independence would end in 1653 with the occupation and annexation of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England.   Obverse design, crowned CR for King Charles I.  Reverse V with a small S above for denomination of 5 shillings.
  9. jgenn

    A Sky Blue '60

    By jgenn,

    It took a bit of magic to capture this image.
    When viewing a toned silver coin from a certain, special angle you can really appreciate the color, but it can be nearly impossible to capture in a photograph. Somehow, I positioned an OttLite, just right, to maximize the color on this one. Try as I might, I just can't replicate it and now that the coin is encapsulated, there's little hope of success.
    Of all the coins of Spain that I've collected, this is my one late empire example, purchased for my Silver Dollars of '60 custom set. It features one of the better portraits of Queen Isabel II. She was only three when she was proclaimed sovereign and sparked a civil war upon the death of her father, Fernando VII in 1833. Her reign was overthrown in the revolution of 1868.
    The 20 reales of this period closely maintained the dimensions of the 8 reales. It was 38mm, 26.291g and 90% silver. Mine is the more common variety from Madrid with a mintage of 941,000. You can see the less colorful reverse in my custom set.
    http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinView.aspx?sc=453782
    ~jack

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  10. jgenn

    A Tale of Two Cities

    By jgenn,

    It was the best of thalers, it was the worst of thalers...
    Several city-view thalers were up for sale this November and I acquired one of Frankfurt am Main and one of Regensburg. Minted just a few years apart, they are from the last few decades of the Holy Roman Empire. Both of these were Free Imperial Cities, subordinate only to the Emperor, and had important roles in the Empire; Frankfurt was the city where kings and emperors were crowned and Regensburg hosted the principle decision making body, the Imperial Diet. Both are well struck with minimal wear but otherwise, they are a contrast in appearance.
    The Frankfurt thaler has muted luster with significant toning, somewhat uneven and with a few crusty areas in the legend. The city view is in landscape style and the toning adds a weather-like effect as if a rain storm is passing through. It's quite ornate with elaborate framing of the city arms and the radiant triangle, caduceus and cornucopias symbols.
    The Regensburg thaler is highly lustrous with only slight toning. The obverse shows the portrait of Emperor Joseph II and the reverse is a portrait of the city -- engraved on a large scale, accentuating its importance and grandeur, and features an impressive level of detail -- its precise lines are more in the style of an architectural drawing.
    I know it's a stretch to paraphrase Dickens' famous first line with any relevance to these coins, but to me it is mainly about the range of Regensburg city view coins that were on offer. I chose the one with the best eye appeal but some may regard it as the worst because of its details grade. Between the two pictured here, I appreciate the qualities of the different styles, however I find the Frankfurt view more appealing. Toning and details grades generate strong opinions among collectors. Which city view do you prefer?
    I'll post the full coin photographs with grades on the chat board.
    ~jack

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  11. jgenn

    Amazing 8s

    By jgenn,

    My custom set has more than 500 views!
    Thanks to all of you that have viewed my custom set "Amazing 8s -- Charles III Portrait 8 Reales 1772-1791".
    The special thing about a custom set is that it's uniquely your own. For my set I selected 20 coins from my collection of 8 reales, one for each year of issue that featured the bust of Charles III (some posthumously) and made sure to choose examples from a variety of mints.
    I did some research and tried to include a few interesting facts about this monarch's reign among my comments. History shows that Charles III was the last great King of Spain -- his economic policies fostered an expansion of trade that encouraged the Spanish colonies to vastly increase the minting of these coins. His successor, Charles IV, neglected the administration of the Empire and was eventually forced to abdicate his throne, first to his son Ferdinand VII and then again to Napoleon Bonaparte.
    Curating this set was a fun learning experience. Please take a look if you haven't seen it yet.
    http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=3785
    I'll leave you with a composite photograph of the first coin in my set and its comment text.
    "First year of the portrait design on Spanish silver coins. This example is from the Mexico City mint. Both the mint mark and assayer initials are inverted and this coin is the rare variety where the initials have been transposed from "FM" to "MF" From the April/May 2012 Heritage auction, Chicago, lot #25106. KM-106.1."

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  12. jgenn

    Anno 1790

    By jgenn,


    Sweden Riksdaler
    Back before streaming became so popular, one of my local cable channels would broadcast a great selection of international television content in the original language with English subtitles.  My favorites were the detective shows such as Inspector Montalbano, Commissario Brunetti, Blood of the Vine (aka the Wine Detective), Beck and Wallander, all set in contemporary time, and the period shows Nicolas Le Floch and Anno 1790.  I highly recommend all of these, which can be streamed from various services in addition to the novels that many of these were based on.   I found the show Anno 1790 to be particularly fascinating because the time period matches that of many of the coins that I have chosen to collect. In this series, which is unfortunately limited to one season of 10 episodes, the viewer gets to experience a bit of late 18th Century Sweden through the eyes of a police commissioner of Stockholm.  Sweden, like many European counties at this time, experienced a shifting balance of political power between monarch and parliament.  The ideas and ambitions that led to the French Revolution in 1789 were present here as well.  King Gustav III, reigned from 1771 to 1792 and died in a politically motivated assassination.   Needless to say, acquiring a nice silver crown of Sweden of the date 1790 was a collecting goal that I finally achieved earlier this year.   ~jack

  13. jgenn
    I bought, sold and traded at my first coin convention and I'm darn sure the dealers got the better bargain, but I came away with my shirt and two new coins for my small but growing early modern world silver dollar set.
    I didn't attend any auctions and only visited for a few hours on Saturday morning but I got most of my goals accomplished. My main purpose was to get an opinion on a raw 1860 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar that I won on Ebay. After showing it around I felt confident enough to send it off for certification instead of sending it back to the seller.
    I also brought a few coins to trade and after showing them to a half dozen dealers, and failing to get the cash value I wanted, I came across a table with a stunning thaler featuring a design that I have been seeking for some time. I did a quick lookup for pricing and traded two of my certified 8 reales and a few bucks for it. It's unfortunate that the NGC label was incorrect, as I found out later -- the specific variety of this coin is priced at least $50 less than the variety matching the label.
    The correct attribution for this coin is a 1663 German States thaler from Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle, Davenport No. 6521, minted in Clausthal and distinguished by the mint master's initials LW, for Lippold Weber. It's gorgeously toned, especially on the side featuring the leaping stallion. The holder is dreadfully scratched, as you can see in the attached photo, so it will go back to NGC for a new case (it should be a freebie due to the "mechanical error" of the label), but I'm thinking it might warrant a regrade.
    ~jack

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  15. jgenn
    Journals from 2016
    When was this coin minted?
    Transitions within Transitions
    Top Executive Accepts Kickback Custom Set Collage
    When the Colony becomes the Ruler A Sky Blue '60
    Reflection on a Collection
    Nephew's First Coin
    Lights-Camera-Action
    The Silver Dollars of '60
    Second Chances
    Custom Sets Question
    Journals from 2015
    A Tale of Two Cities
    England without a monarch!
    A rose by any other name... My Three Suns
    US Silver Dollar Mint Type Set
    Light and Shadow
    Old Map -- New Presentation
    Two goals in one!
    Journals from 2014
    The Fix for Coins Misaligned in their Holders
    Hey, this guy has a face!
    The Ugly Truth About 8 Reales Beautiful Thaler from Baltimore
    Losing and Rebuilding a World Class Collection
    Surprise Gold Acquisition
    Started My Fencing Coin Custom Set My First US Silver Dollar!
    Journals from 2013
    The 8 Reales Pinnacle
    When does bidding really close at a live auction?
    Controversial Deaccession
    Real de a Ocho de Dos Mundos
    Pandamonium strikes!
    First Gold
    Amazing 8s Spanish Eight Reales countermarked as English Dollars
    Early Milled Eight Reales of New Spain
    This REALLY Bugs Me!
    The Raw Coin Submission Blues
    Just passed 100K Registry Points!!!
     
  16. jgenn
    Provides the acquisition opportunity of a lifetime
    I guess I don't pay much attention to general numismatic news because the events surrounding the deaccession (elimination of items by a museum) of the Huntington Collection of coins and medals from the Hispanic world passed by without my notice. I only started to check out what this Huntington Collection was after I won an interesting 8 reales from an auction house that specializes in ancient coins.
    Archer M. Huntington (1870-1955), philanthropist and patron of the arts, is known for founding the Hispanic Society of America (HSA) as well as his scholarly works in the field of Hispanic Studies. He was also a member and benefactor of the American Numismatic Society (ANS, not to be confused with the ANA). His interest in all things Spanish included a 38,000 coin collection spanning ancient to near modern times that was mostly completed by 1908. This collection was bequeathed to HSA and placed on long term loan for study with the ANS.
    In 2008 the HSA, facing financial troubles, decided to deaccession the coin collection, but not without a legal challenge from the ANS on the grounds that it violated Huntington's intention for the preservation of the collection for future study. With the legal issue resolved in their favor, the HSA sought but failed to find a buyer that would keep the collection intact. Sotheby's auctioned off the collection in 2012, estimated between $25 -$35 million USD, to a consortium of European coin dealers. Several of these houses (Jesús Vico, Morton & Eden, Numismatica Genevensis, Jean Elsen & ses Fils) have subsequently auctioned off parts of the collection to the public. A few anonymous benefactors have arranged the purchase of large and important parts of the collection and placed them, on long term loan, back with the ANS.
    I stumbled upon this story recently, when I scanned through an email auction notice from the Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) and saw a 1614 Spanish 8 reales hidden among the typical ancient fare in the listing. My main date range for 8 reales is 1760-1789, covering the reign of Charles III, but I also collect a few examples of other series. Seeing a fine specimen from the reign of Philip III (1598--1621) come up for auction is a rare occurrence. Even more special, when I found out that this coin had been in such an important collection for over 100 years. Whoever bought it from the Jesús Vico auction, in June of 2012, decided to put it back on the market and I bought it from CNG this year in September.
    The 1614 8 reales, minted in Segovia, Spain, is fairly pedestrian compared to some of the stellar rarities from the Huntington collection (just search for the Sotheby's catalog for examples). The obverse shows the crowned coat of arms of Spain at the time, with Portugal included, as the Spanish monarch held the Portuguese crown from 1581-1640. To the left of the arms is a two story aqueduct of five arches, the mint mark of Segovia, and the assayers initials, AR. To the right is the denomination in Roman numerals, VIII. On the reverse is the quartered arms of Castille and León, with date above. The impressions are strong and what appears to be rim damage looks more like nicks and cuts that were present on the planchette prior to minting.
    ~jack

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  17. jgenn

    Custom Set Collage

    By jgenn,

    Celebrating an Amazing 8s milestone
    This year I was able to add two coins to my set of Charles III 8 reales and complete the goal of an example from each mint that produced the portrait type issue. I figured out how to add an image to the custom set description and called on some dormant skills to illustrate the achievement. I left the commercial art field just as computer graphics were starting to take off so I remember 'copy' as what the photo department did, 'cut' requiring X-ACTO knife skills and 'paste' coming from the waxing machine.
    The active mints during this period, 1772-1789, and up to 1791 for various posthumous issues, were:
    Madrid -- Capital of Spain since 1606, its mintmark is distinguished by the crown above the 'M'. It was not one of the main mints of Spain until the 17th century. 8 reales of the macuquina type (cobs) first appeared in 1620 according to Cabeto. Charles III portrait 8 reales were issued from 1772-1775, 1777, 1782 and 1788.
    Seville -- An ancient city that produced coins for Romans and Goths, its zenith during the Spanish Empire was its period as the home of La Casa y Audiencia de Indias, the agency for all colonial exploration and trade, from 1503-1717; Seville's mint handled much of the precious metals from the New World. Its mintmark is 'S' Charles III portrait 8 reales were issued from 1772-1779 and 1788.
    Mexico City -- The oldest mint in the Americas was established in 1535 in the capital of the Viceroyalty of new Spain. 8 reales were not issued until the reign of Philip II (1555-1598). The common mintmark is 'M' with a small 'o' above. The first two years of the Charles III portrait type are known for the inversion of the mintmark and assayers initials. Charles III portrait 8 reales were issued from 1772-1789 and posthumously in 1789 and 1790 with the bust of Charles III and legend for Charles IV.
    Guatemala City -- Capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, a large region that included El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Chiapas; minting started in 1733 with old equipment and tools from Mexico City and used the mintmark 'G'. The Charles III portrait 8 reales started in 1772 but were interrupted in 1773 by earthquakes that resulted in the movement of the city and mint away from the highlands, 40 miles to the Northwest. The new mint began 8 reales production again in 1777 and began using the mintmark 'NG' for Nueva Guatemala (New Guatemala). Issues continued until 1789 with posthumous issues in 1789 and 1790 with the bust of Charles III and legend for Charles IV.
    Lima -- Capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, it was granted minting authority in 1565. Starting with the Charles III portrait issues, its mintmark was a monogram combining the letters 'LIMAE'. These continued from 1772-1789, with posthumous issues from 1789-1791 with the bust of Charles III and legend for Charles IV.
    Potosí -- Established in 1543 as a mining town at the foot of a mountain with the largest known silver deposit, Potosí was part Alto Perú (Upper Peru), which would be renamed Bolivia in honor of the general and political leader Simón Bolívar. Alto Perú was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776, when it was shifted to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in hopes of countering the growing influence of Portugal in the region. With the beginning of milled coinage in 1767 it adopted the mintmark monogram with the letters 'PTS'. Charles III portrait 8 reales were issued from 1773-1789 and posthumously in 1789 and 1790 with the bust of Charles III and legend for Charles IV.
    Santiago -- Capital of the Captaincy General of Chile, its mint was first authorized as a private endeavor in 1743. It minted what the region mined which was mainly gold. Charles III brought the mint under the crown in 1770. The mintmark is 'S' with a small 'o' above. Silver issues are scarce and the Charles III 8 reales portraits are known for 1773, maybe 1774, 1775-1789, with posthumous issues from 1789-1791 with the bust of Charles III and legend for Charles IV.
    ~jack
    http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=3785

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  18. jgenn

    Custom Sets Question

    By jgenn,

    To go big or stay focused?
    Congratulations to all the registry participants and winners. Now that the 2015 awards have been decided we can take a peek at the judges' selections, and with 90,000 registry sets out there, I know I will be viewing most of these for the first time.
    Like many of you, I spent a good portion of 2015 creating, organizing and polishing my sets. I've become a big fan of custom sets and I added four last year. I especially like the control we have over the size of our sets and I've kept mine pretty small and focused. The gallery page, where you can see fifteen coins (30 individual photos) at once including the owner's annotations, is my favorite way to view a set. But I will admit that I'm not likely to go more than two pages deep. Personal preferences aside, I wonder if keeping my sets so small was the best approach.
    One of the custom sets I created last year is the pillar dollar companion to my 8 reales busts of Charles III. Although they are chronologically adjacent, the pillar dollars are more desirable to collectors and I (and my wallet) opted for a lower average grade. But now I wonder if I should have combined them together. After all, many of the top custom sets feature considerably more coins than I am contemplating.
    I would like your opinion -- should I keep my Columnarios de Carlos separate or roll them into the Amazing 8s?
    Here's one of those pillar dollars from the Viceroyalty of Peru, Lima mint and a link to the set.
    http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetGallery.aspx?s=19381
    ~jack

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  19. jgenn

    Decimalization

    By jgenn,


    Venezolano
    One aspect of monetary reform taken by almost all nations was to change the subdivision of a currency into units of 10 and 100.  The main benefit was to simplify calculations for accounting purposes and was often undertaken to align with trading partners.  Nations often changed the size and weight of their coins as part of monetary reforms and sometimes changed the name of their currency.  Typically, these changes allowed the issuing authorities to reduce the amount of precious metal without the commensurate change in official value. For world crowns in the 19th Century, many nations settled on 25 grams and 37 mm for their largest silver coins. An important standard was set in 1865 when France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union.    Decimalization occurred in many of the former Spanish colonies in the Americas in the middle of the 19th century as these new nations moved away from the 27 gram 8 reales standard to 25 grams and several of these nations joined the Latin Monetary Union to facilitate trade with Europe.  In Venezuela, decimalization started with the peso in 1843 although no silver coins of that denomination were struck.  In 1872 the currency was renamed to the venezolano with the subdivision of 100 centavos.  The silver venezolano was issued for just one year in 1876.  Venezuela joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1879 and changed the currency to the bolivar, with the crown sized silver coin issued as 5 bolivares.   Here is my example of the short lived venezolano, the first silver crown of Venezuela.  25 grams, 37 mm and 90% silver.  Mintage of only 35,000 and struck at the Paris mint. ~jack
  20. jgenn
    It's as close as I can get to the rare 1732 and 1733 8Rs
    Milled silver coinage in the Spanish Colonies started to appear in 1732 as a result of a royal decree of 1728 from the reigning monarch, Philip V, the first of the Bourbon Dynasty to rule Spain. Prior to this, colonial coins were hand stamped on irregularly shaped discs, known as cobs. Mexico City was the first of the colonial mints to use screw presses for their coinage on planchets of standardized diameter and thickness. Prior to the impression of the obverse and reverse designs, the planchets were passed through a device that impressed a repeating floral design on the coin's edge. These methods deterred clipping and made counterfeiting much more difficult. Quantities of milled coins from the first two years were very low and thus very rare to collect today.
    I recently acquired a 1734 eight reales struck using a 1733 die -- it's as close as I can afford to get to one of the early ones. As a point of reference, a 1733 Mo MF 8R, in AU condition, recently sold for 3300 euros (not including auction fees) in the Cayon subastas in Madrid on may 9th 2013. My photo includes an enlargement of the date so that you can see the slanting section of three within the "eye" of the four.
    The photo is of the raw coin that I took indoors in my light box using two light sources with the macro function of my hand-held Canon G9. In post-processing, I cranked up the contrast and dropped the saturation to reduce the purple tint from the Reveal incandescent bulbs.
    Wish me luck in getting this graded -- I'm hoping for XF40.

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  21. jgenn

    England without a monarch!

    By jgenn,

    A relic from the 'Interregnum'
    King Charles I lost more than the English Civil War. In 1649 he lost his head and England began a period of eleven years without a monarch. Even so, crowns were still minted.
    1658 crown of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, a single year issue as he died that September. The crown is noted for its high strike quality due to the mechanized milling and press process introduced by Pierre Blondeau, former engineer of the Paris mint. The dies were produced by the Royal Mint's chief engraver, Thomas Simon. All issues show an 8 punched over 7 and many have the die crack through the lower obverse.
    Cromwell ascended to this position, king in all but name, from his distinguished service in the Parliamentarian army during the English Civil War. The resignation of Lord Fairfax, lord general of the army, who opposed the execution of Charles I, left Cromwell at the head of the most powerful faction of the new republic in 1649. He assumed full control with the title of Lord Protector in 1653. At his death, his eldest son assumed the title but could not maintain the military dictatorship. Charles II gained the throne in 1660, ending this brief period of England without a monarch.
    ~jack

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  22. jgenn

    First Gold

    By jgenn,

    I've only collected silver, mostly 8 reales, until this one.
    Now, you might expect an 8 reales collector to acquire a Spanish escudo as their first gold coin, but I've been wary of buying into the current gold bubble. I hope to acquire a few nice 8 escudos when, and if, the price of gold drops back to lower levels.
    As a fun distraction from my 8 reales focus, I've been building a theme set of coins that depict the sport of fencing, my other main hobby. Since the beginning of the year I've already acquired over a dozen nice silver specimens and today I received my first gold coin, a tiny 14mm, 1.24g speck, commemorating the Athens Olympics with a fencing design.
    I've found that many countries, besides the host, produce Olympic commemorative coins. In this case we have a Bulgarian 5 Leva, dated 2002 with the national emblem, date and denomination on the obverse. The reverse has the dates of the first and contemporary modern Olympic competition and the host city and features a dramatic image of two fencers competing with epees, one of the three type of fencing weapons.
    At some point, I'll get the best of these slabbed and build a custom set devoted to fencing coins. So, you can expect a few more journals with information about this unusual sport and its commemorative coins.
    ~jack

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  23. jgenn

    Hey, this guy has a face!

    By jgenn,

    When a details coin looks better
    The leeuwendaalder aka lion daalder was first minted in the province of Holland in 1575 during the revolt against Spanish rule. By 1581 the seven Northern provinces were able to gain their independence, forming the Dutch Republic, formally recognized by the Spanish Empire in 1648. Freed from the burden of supporting a monarchy, the Dutch became a trading powerhouse, developing a globe-spanning colonial empire and the largest merchant fleet in the 17th century. The lion daalder was minted in six provinces and several cities; as an early trade dollar, it circulated widely including the Middle East and the North American colonies (the Dutch colony of New Netherlands was ceded to England in 1664, its capital, New Amsterdam, was renamed New York). The coin picked up the nickname, "dog dollar", in the English colonies, probably because the rampant lion design on the reverse lost much of its distinguishing detail as it became worn.
     
     
     
    Produced from roughly finished planchetes, these coins typically exhibit multiple weak areas. A common problem is the head of the knight. I've searched for nice examples but many, even those with AU/MS grades, are greatly lacking eye appeal. But then I came across this shipwreck salvage coin and I was immediately drawn to the strong detail of the obverse design and especially the face of the knight. The coin is attributed to the wreck of the Kampen, part of a Dutch East India Company convoy that sank in 1627. Although it grades AU details, I think it's one of the better examples of this historic Dutch trade dollar.
     
     
     
    ~jack

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  24. jgenn
    I knew I was close but didn't know which one would put me over the top.
    Hello fellow collectors. My first journal happens to coincide with my recent breakthrough of the 100K registry points milestone. Sure its just a number but it defines a point at which I can look back and reflect on the collection I have built in last three and a half years. For me, this all started with one of those "America's First Silver Dollars" followed by the realization that collectible grade eight reales coins (aka pieces of eight) could be found for what I paid for a damaged example (or less). Needless to say, I caught the collecting bug.
    Last year I became aware that my registry point total was well into five digits and figured out that only coins in competitive sets counted. So, I started putting my eligible coins into sets to see how many points were there.
    The points accumulated until I knew the next coin would break 100K. I had some coins in for grading at NGC, won two coins at Heritage CICF but what arrived in the mailbox first was an Ebay win -- an 8 reales from 1814 minted in Cadiz, Spain.
    My main collecting focus is the 8 reales from the Spanish colonies but I also have examples from the Spanish mints in Madrid and Seville. Cadiz is of historical significance in that it was the home of the Spanish treasure fleet and dominated trade with the colonies in the 18th century.
    At the time this coin was minted, however, the Spanish empire was in decline -- Napoleon had invaded and conquered most of Spain and the remnants of Spanish governance retreated to Cadiz where coins of this type were minted from 1810-1815. The Spanish colonies in America were plunged into a long period of warfare for their independence.
    It has been a fun and fascinating journey so far. Thanks for reading. Here is a picture of the coin that got me past 100K. Its only an XF45 so please pardon the condition.
    ~Jack

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  25. jgenn

    Light and Shadow

    By jgenn,

    Sometimes a strong lighting angle can bring out a coin's best appearance.
    The lamps that I use for my coin photographs are too bulky to allow placement near the camera lens so I have to experiment with different angles in relation to the plane of the coin's surface. I have a couple of small LEDs lamps on order that will allow me to get close to a perpendicular angle, but until they arrive I have to make due with what I have.
    I've read advice that for coins with portraits, you should try to light the face in a natural way -- as if lit from above by sunlight. Here's my best attempt at that on a young Catherine the Great from a 1764 Rouble minted in Saint Petersburg.

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