Watch List notes:

Ceiba & Mtn c/s on Cob Real 1846 & 1849 Duet, KM 47 (and C12) dated 1846-JB, plus KM-unlisted date of 1849. Due to a major shortage of post-colonial Central American coinage being available for daily circulating usage, the old cob coinage of Potosi and Lima entered its second century of use. Most were worn nearly smooth and many were "clipped". The authorities guaranteed their nominal value by marking them with a design very much like the contemporary CAR Ceiba tree / mountains motif. The "Habilitada en Costa Rica" displayed the assayer JB who remained active until 1855. The backside showed the CAR legend, legally inaccurate but familiar to the CR population. That legend showed the date as 1846. Those dies were used for about three years until circulation of cobs was officially banned in mid-1849 in order to encourage use of the new Republica de CR coinage and countermarked CAR pieces. 95% of all known cob pieces have the date 1846 but a very few have the date 1849 (not an accidentally inverted six once one studies the "9" punch). Some of the round milled-edge foreign coin types appear with a clear 1848 date. Jorge Murillo covers this important variety in his excellent book (pages 56-57) and Tomas Duenas illustrates an example on page 30 of his volume. This is the only piece from the Fred Mayer collection and one of about 10 reported over the years by specialists; it may be the only one publicly offered in the USA listed correctly. On the "1849" the date digits and JB are clear as are most of the other important aspects; the Very Good coin does have some very old field digs which do not impair any crucial areas. It is accompanied by a standard issue "1846" of approximately similar flan size and structure whose main details are all surprisingly clear; that one grades Fine plus. An important pair previously unrecognized on the North American market and uncatalogued as such by KM.

Estimate: 600.00-1200.00 USD