Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3041 Sess. 4 13 August 2015
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Mexico
Real de Catorce. Ferdinand VII - Insurgent 8 Reales 1811 VG10 NGC, Real de Catorce mint, KM169, Cal-621. Wholesome and rather pleasant for this crude issue, with all details clear, a decent strike, some roughness on the edges and handling marks commensurate with the designation. A one-year Insurgent type (not Royalist as often catalogued, see for example Carlos Jara's recent article on the October 9, 2014 issue of CoinWeek magazine) authorized by Jose Mariano Jimenez between the end of 1810 and early 1811 to mitigate the lack of coinage available in Catorce.After the defeat of Insurgent forces at the siege of Guanajuato in November 1810, he marched towards San Luis Potosi (where Catorce is located) and spent most of the following month of December there. After a final victory at Agua Nueva on Januaty 6, 1811, he was finally taken prisoner along Hidalgo and several other Insurtent commanders by royalist leader Elizondo at Acatita de Bajan. He was taken to Chihuahua to face treason charges and finally shot as traitor on June 26, 1811. Quoting Jara, when facing accusations of having issued coinage, Jimenez replied on sworn testimony that "he issued coinage in silver of full fineness and intrinsic value in the Real de Catorce ... That if he committed the crime of minting coinage, he only did so following the example set forth by Zacatecas and under the authority bestowed upon him and the necessity of providing a circulating media, but always being careful or not harming the King's interests by giving it a proper weight and full intrinsic value.". Indeed, the few surviving specimens of the Real de Catorce issue are overweight and seemingly of good silver, thus apparently in agreeance with Jimenez' account. Although most references mistakenly liken this issue with the Royalist series, all of them correctly agree on the issue's high rarity: only a handful are presently known, and it constitutes without a doubt one of the keys of the entire War of Independence period. Now correctly identified as one of Mexico's first independent crowns, its perceived historical importance should augment. As such, this impeccably pedigreed example should gather strong attention.
Estimate: 30000-40000 USD
Real de Catorce. Ferdinand VII - Insurgent 8 Reales 1811 VG10 NGC, Real de Catorce mint, KM169, Cal-621. Wholesome and rather pleasant for this crude issue, with all details clear, a decent strike, some roughness on the edges and handling marks commensurate with the designation. A one-year Insurgent type (not Royalist as often catalogued, see for example Carlos Jara's recent article on the October 9, 2014 issue of CoinWeek magazine) authorized by Jose Mariano Jimenez between the end of 1810 and early 1811 to mitigate the lack of coinage available in Catorce.After the defeat of Insurgent forces at the siege of Guanajuato in November 1810, he marched towards San Luis Potosi (where Catorce is located) and spent most of the following month of December there. After a final victory at Agua Nueva on Januaty 6, 1811, he was finally taken prisoner along Hidalgo and several other Insurtent commanders by royalist leader Elizondo at Acatita de Bajan. He was taken to Chihuahua to face treason charges and finally shot as traitor on June 26, 1811. Quoting Jara, when facing accusations of having issued coinage, Jimenez replied on sworn testimony that "he issued coinage in silver of full fineness and intrinsic value in the Real de Catorce ... That if he committed the crime of minting coinage, he only did so following the example set forth by Zacatecas and under the authority bestowed upon him and the necessity of providing a circulating media, but always being careful or not harming the King's interests by giving it a proper weight and full intrinsic value.". Indeed, the few surviving specimens of the Real de Catorce issue are overweight and seemingly of good silver, thus apparently in agreeance with Jimenez' account. Although most references mistakenly liken this issue with the Royalist series, all of them correctly agree on the issue's high rarity: only a handful are presently known, and it constitutes without a doubt one of the keys of the entire War of Independence period. Now correctly identified as one of Mexico's first independent crowns, its perceived historical importance should augment. As such, this impeccably pedigreed example should gather strong attention.
Estimate: 30000-40000 USD