Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2018 NYINC Auction 11-13 Jan 2018
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COLOMBIA. 1885/5 5 Pesos. Medellín mint. Restrepo M330var. AU-53 (PCGS).
A rare one-year type by any estimation, the variety with the final 5 punched over an inverted 5 in the date has been left unlisted by Restrepo, apparently under the presumption that it didn't exist. Sedwick noted that "varieties of this coin without over[date] and also with inverted '5' but without overstruck '7' have been reported, but are unknown to the author." This is definitely a different obverse die, with die cracks among the stars above the date that are very similar to those seen on the 1885/74, but in different positions. The reverse is also distinguishable from cracks in the same areas but in different positions, all while the main details of the die are the same. This offers one inescapable conclusion: these dies are not the 1873 pattern 5 Pesos dies repurposed with a repunched date, but instead were hubbed from those dies (or, perhaps, from a struck example in a soft die metal like brass). This explains the unusual granular texture of the 1885 gold coins as well as the existence of two different die varieties of the 5 Pesos.
The surfaces are mottled light and medium yellow gold with the typical sandy texture of this issue, but still frosty and lustrous. No problems are seen, and no actual wear is noted. A very important rarity, and an opportunity unlikely to be duplicated.
From the Eldorado Collection of Colombian and Ecuadorian Coins.
A rare one-year type by any estimation, the variety with the final 5 punched over an inverted 5 in the date has been left unlisted by Restrepo, apparently under the presumption that it didn't exist. Sedwick noted that "varieties of this coin without over[date] and also with inverted '5' but without overstruck '7' have been reported, but are unknown to the author." This is definitely a different obverse die, with die cracks among the stars above the date that are very similar to those seen on the 1885/74, but in different positions. The reverse is also distinguishable from cracks in the same areas but in different positions, all while the main details of the die are the same. This offers one inescapable conclusion: these dies are not the 1873 pattern 5 Pesos dies repurposed with a repunched date, but instead were hubbed from those dies (or, perhaps, from a struck example in a soft die metal like brass). This explains the unusual granular texture of the 1885 gold coins as well as the existence of two different die varieties of the 5 Pesos.
The surfaces are mottled light and medium yellow gold with the typical sandy texture of this issue, but still frosty and lustrous. No problems are seen, and no actual wear is noted. A very important rarity, and an opportunity unlikely to be duplicated.
From the Eldorado Collection of Colombian and Ecuadorian Coins.
From Superior Stamp and Coin's sale of the Dr. Charles L. Ruby Collection, Part 2, June 1974, lot 1186.
Estimate: $5000.00- $10000.00