I Bought a Coin in the Redbook!

[JamminJ]

In fact, the very first coin in the Redbook:

 

 

A pillar dollar, legal tender in the United States until 1857. This one was struck at the Lima mint in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru which is quite a bit less common than those struck in Mexico City.

 

This wasn't something that was ever on my list but it just jumped out at me from the case. Usually these come with major problems: sea salvaged, polished, chopped, etc., so a pleasingly (IMO) mid circulated one with dark crusty surfaces stands out. It came from my favorite local dealer who also sets up at Long Beach, I picked it up today as I was short on cash by the end of the show.

 

Since people here are likely unfamiliar with the pricing of stuff like this, the catalog values this coin at $500 in XF (the highest grade listed) and I paid somewhat over that price.

 

Comments are welcome!

[the_Thing ®]

You don't mean a plate coin do you?

[TomB]

I absolutely adore this type and your coin looks quite lovely! These are actually quite high on my coolness list and my list of things to buy, though they are so scarce to find with originality and eye appeal that there has only been one puchased by me over the years. Even though this issue seems like it should be available, it is quite scarce to find desirable coins, and dealers who have them are all over the map with pricing of these gems. Here is a scan of the only one I could find to include in my collection.

[JamminJ]

You don't mean a plate coin do you?

 

No, just one listed in the book. Since I collect exclusively world coins its pretty unusual for me to get anything in the "Guide Book of US Coins".

[the_Thing ®]

Oh, I see. Just wondering. That might make a good question one of these days. Who all owns published plate coins.

[the_Thing ®]

Oh, btw, like your coin.

[gmarguli]

Oh, I see. Just wondering. That might make a good question one of these days. Who all owns published plate coins.

 

Regular collectors. I own two from the Krause world coin catalogs.

 

You can also send in pictures of your coins if they are better than the ones in the world catalogs and they will supposedly use them.

[the_Thing ®]

Thats cool. Usually adds a premium.

[JamminJ]

I absolutely adore this type and your coin looks quite lovely! These are actually quite high on my coolness list and my list of things to buy, though they are so scarce to find with originality and eye appeal that there has only been one puchased by me over the years. Even though this issue seems like it should be available, it is quite scarce to find desirable coins, and dealers who have them are all over the map with pricing of these gems. Here is a scan of the only one I could find to include in my collection.

 

Yours is lovely. Believe it or not, when I bought it I was thinking "I'll bet TomB likes this one".

 

I assumed they were difficult to find nice as I just don't come across them that way at all. I've also ha a few US collectors ask where to find them, I could only: . Like many here, I've learned to grab the hard to find stuff whenever it comes around - I'm really pleased with this coin.

 

My local dealer cut quite a bit off his ask price. I buy gobs of stuff from him from resale (for instance 300 pounds of BU Israeli coinage) so he'll cut me great deals on stuff I want to keep. I'll sell it back to him should I ever decide to part with it.

[JamminJ]

Oh, I see. Just wondering. That might make a good question one of these days. Who all owns published plate coins.

 

I've got one.

[Amanda]

That is a lovely lovely Pillar Dollar!

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

-Amanda

[World Colonial]

The Pillars are my favorite design and I have 25 of them in my collection, including 19 that are graded by NGC. Grades range from a VG-8 for a 1763 Guatemala 1/2 Real to an MS-65 for a 1755 Peru 1/2 Real.

 

The Mexico coins are by far the most common, except for the 4's and 8's are usually the most comon from any mint. In my opinion, most of these issues will not be graded by NGC or PCGS due to "improper cleaning" so if you care about resale you need to be careful in your purchases. (On eBay, most of the coins have probably been cleaned but the sellers will not tell you that.)

 

If someone has the money, they should also consider looking in the major auctions. Heritage occasionally offers these issues, including Peru. I bought five minors at the June sale.

 

Frank Gilboy's "The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America" is the best (or at least most recent) reference book - if you can find it, as it only had a print run of 500 copies.

[Bruceswar]

Jammin thats a sweet coin. I really love the design. Do you have a coin from the Santiago mint? Thanks for sharing!

[World Colonial]

The Santiago mint (mintmark So) and Nuevo Reina (Colombia, mintmark NR) are almost impossible to find and I would not buy one of these coins except from a source that has an impeccable reputation.

 

Ponterio has auctioned one or two of the 8R in the last five years and the June Heritage auction had a 1760 So 2R (holed with probably VG details) that realized about $1700 with buyer's fee. The fall 2004 Cayon auction had a 1760 NR 1R which is one of seven known. This one looked AU and is almost certainly the best known. According to my Gilboy reference manual, all are R4 or R5 which means they have less than 10 examples.

[JamminJ]

Jammin thats a sweet coin. I really love the design. Do you have a coin from the Santiago mint? Thanks for sharing!

 

Nah, this is a onesie in my collection. Just a cool coin that came along, i usually do Germanic, Japanese and some French Indo China.

[Bruceswar]

Jammin thats a sweet coin. I really love the design. Do you have a coin from the Santiago mint? Thanks for sharing!

 

Nah, this is a onesie in my collection. Just a cool coin that came along, i usually do Germanic, Japanese and some French Indo China.

 

Yes I have seen which is why I ask.