Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC
Treasure Auction 28 17-19 Nov 2020
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Venezuela (Caracas "imitation cobs")
Caracas, Venezuela, provisional "imitation cob" 1 real, fantasy date "931" (ca. 1813), quadrants of cross transposed, very rare, NGC XF 45.KM-unl; Stohr 9A; Rosenman p. 25 fig 8; Guttag-4146.2.15 gramsBold strike with satin-smooth fields and even dark color all over, well-centered cross but off-center pillars with bold date and "mintmark" L (top right) and "assayer" M (bottom right, followed by colon, and left of cross), much rarer than the 2 reales in this series. Although current references attribute all examples of this design to the Caracas series, in fact the style of lion and castle punches (among less obvious elements) on some 1R specimens like this one are not known for other Caracas issues, to the point that most experts now agree these other 1R could have been made in Santa Marta, Colombia (from the ca.-1813 issues of Viceroy Montalvo) in imitation of the Caracas coins (see the 2011 article "Acerca de las acunaciones del Virrey Montalvo," by Colombian numismatist Jorge Becerra, on pp. 9-13 of Numiscol's Boletin numismatico #90); however, no documentary evidence has been found so far to support this.
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD
Caracas, Venezuela, provisional "imitation cob" 1 real, fantasy date "931" (ca. 1813), quadrants of cross transposed, very rare, NGC XF 45.KM-unl; Stohr 9A; Rosenman p. 25 fig 8; Guttag-4146.2.15 gramsBold strike with satin-smooth fields and even dark color all over, well-centered cross but off-center pillars with bold date and "mintmark" L (top right) and "assayer" M (bottom right, followed by colon, and left of cross), much rarer than the 2 reales in this series. Although current references attribute all examples of this design to the Caracas series, in fact the style of lion and castle punches (among less obvious elements) on some 1R specimens like this one are not known for other Caracas issues, to the point that most experts now agree these other 1R could have been made in Santa Marta, Colombia (from the ca.-1813 issues of Viceroy Montalvo) in imitation of the Caracas coins (see the 2011 article "Acerca de las acunaciones del Virrey Montalvo," by Colombian numismatist Jorge Becerra, on pp. 9-13 of Numiscol's Boletin numismatico #90); however, no documentary evidence has been found so far to support this.
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD