Watch List notes:

Costa Rica, brass 10 centavos, 1917, GCR to right, rare, NGC MS 63, finest known in NGC census. KM-149.1. 1.94 grams. Brightly lustrous (looks like gold!) and devoid of wear or marks, very rare in high grade and in fact the finest known at NGC by SIX grades (the only Mint State example in the census, and by our records no other MS examples ever on the market). The 1917 issues in brass were a direct result of World War I, after which the world price of silver skyrocketed and even the initial debased-silver issues of 1917 became worth nearly full face value (therefore being hoarded instead of circulated). So a brass issue followed, but the first of these pieces in brass retained the old (silver) design that bore the Government of Costa Rica initials (GCR) at about 4-5 o'clock in the legend, as we see here. Subsequent issues that same year with GCR moved to the center are much more common, but all the brass issues are scarce in high grade, as they were heavily circulated, and almost never seen with original, gold surfaces that under normal circumstances quickly tarnished. The present example, a very special coin indeed, must have been extremely well protected for the past hundred years! NGC #4703634-001.
(1000 - 2000 USD)