Heritage World Coin Auctions
Dallas Signature Sale 3085 5-7 Aug 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Costa Rica
Republic 50 Centimos 1904 (P)-GCR XF40 NGC, Philadelphia mint, KM-Unl., Ulex-Unl., Guttag-Unl. A semi-legendary date within the early 20th-century Costa Rican 50 Centimos series, entirely missing from all major collections we have consulted--Ulex, Guttag, Farouk, Goodman, Whittier, Mayer, Lissner, Pura Vida, and Stuart--likely suggesting that it is the first example to become available at public auction. While Edict #85 of January 29, 1904 had authorized the production of an additional 132,000 colones in silver coins for circulation, which Edict #30 of the 1904-1905 fiscal year had laid out as 250,000 coins denominated 50 Centimos to be struck by the Philadelphia mint (confirmed by the 1905 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, pg. 19 as well as by the research of Raul Gurdian), it previously appeared that none were ever effectively put into circulation; the statement in the Standard Catalog of World Coins that these pieces were actually dated 1903 is doubted by Carlos Jara. Due to the debased fineness of the coinage in 1917, it is likely that the vast majority of the 1904 issue was melted down to retrieve the higher silver content, with perhaps only a few saved from the melting pot by a government worker. In the second edition of his book Contribucion al Estudio de las Monedas de Costa Rica: 100 Años de Colon, Gurdian confirmed these mint reports, assigning the issue firmly to the Philadelphia mint, though even he did not include the 1904 in his overall list of collectible Costa Rican issues (see pg. 76). The date also marked the first year that the inscription GCR (for Gobierno de Costa Rica) was placed on the coins instead of assayer's initials JCV (for Jose Cubero Vargas), which had been used on the 1903 coinage. While this incredible discovery piece does indeed show light evidence of circulation, rub is predominantly confined to the highpoints, with an impressive sharpness preserved throughout the design, quite well suggesting that it may be a sort of pattern, and we would note that Freeman Craig has stated that 200 patterns were struck by the Philadelphia mint in this year.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/costa-rica/costa-rica-republic-50-centimos-1904-p-gcr-xf40-ngc-/a/3085-30102.s?type=CoinArchives3085
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 15000-25000 USD
Republic 50 Centimos 1904 (P)-GCR XF40 NGC, Philadelphia mint, KM-Unl., Ulex-Unl., Guttag-Unl. A semi-legendary date within the early 20th-century Costa Rican 50 Centimos series, entirely missing from all major collections we have consulted--Ulex, Guttag, Farouk, Goodman, Whittier, Mayer, Lissner, Pura Vida, and Stuart--likely suggesting that it is the first example to become available at public auction. While Edict #85 of January 29, 1904 had authorized the production of an additional 132,000 colones in silver coins for circulation, which Edict #30 of the 1904-1905 fiscal year had laid out as 250,000 coins denominated 50 Centimos to be struck by the Philadelphia mint (confirmed by the 1905 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, pg. 19 as well as by the research of Raul Gurdian), it previously appeared that none were ever effectively put into circulation; the statement in the Standard Catalog of World Coins that these pieces were actually dated 1903 is doubted by Carlos Jara. Due to the debased fineness of the coinage in 1917, it is likely that the vast majority of the 1904 issue was melted down to retrieve the higher silver content, with perhaps only a few saved from the melting pot by a government worker. In the second edition of his book Contribucion al Estudio de las Monedas de Costa Rica: 100 Años de Colon, Gurdian confirmed these mint reports, assigning the issue firmly to the Philadelphia mint, though even he did not include the 1904 in his overall list of collectible Costa Rican issues (see pg. 76). The date also marked the first year that the inscription GCR (for Gobierno de Costa Rica) was placed on the coins instead of assayer's initials JCV (for Jose Cubero Vargas), which had been used on the 1903 coinage. While this incredible discovery piece does indeed show light evidence of circulation, rub is predominantly confined to the highpoints, with an impressive sharpness preserved throughout the design, quite well suggesting that it may be a sort of pattern, and we would note that Freeman Craig has stated that 200 patterns were struck by the Philadelphia mint in this year.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/costa-rica/costa-rica-republic-50-centimos-1904-p-gcr-xf40-ngc-/a/3085-30102.s?type=CoinArchives3085
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 15000-25000 USD