Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2022 NYINC Auction 14-16 Jan 2022
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COSTA RICA. Uncountermarked 50 Centimos, 1918-GCR. San Jose Mint. NGC AU Details--Cleaned.
KM-150. If coins could tell a story, this one would have a very engaging one to tell. Krause records the entire 1918 mintage of this type, and all but 10 of the 1917 production as having been countermarked with a UN COLON/1923 impression. Most countries of Latin America struggled financially during the teens and twenties years of the 20th Century, and Costa Rica responded to this by debasing their coinage from a .900 fine silver standard to one of .500 fine. The old silver coinage was redenominated, regardless of fineness, to double face value. Very few examples escaped the countermarking process, making this piece EXCEPTIONALLY RARE. Given the unlisted nature of the piece in Krause, and the lack of any auction record for a 1918 piece, this may well have been the only example to survive, though that is merely speculative. While there has been a cleaning, nice details remain and the very survival of this issue commands that it be in demand no matter the condition. This example presents an almost unheard of chance to acquire a coin with a story unlike any other.
Estimate: $1000 - $2000
KM-150. If coins could tell a story, this one would have a very engaging one to tell. Krause records the entire 1918 mintage of this type, and all but 10 of the 1917 production as having been countermarked with a UN COLON/1923 impression. Most countries of Latin America struggled financially during the teens and twenties years of the 20th Century, and Costa Rica responded to this by debasing their coinage from a .900 fine silver standard to one of .500 fine. The old silver coinage was redenominated, regardless of fineness, to double face value. Very few examples escaped the countermarking process, making this piece EXCEPTIONALLY RARE. Given the unlisted nature of the piece in Krause, and the lack of any auction record for a 1918 piece, this may well have been the only example to survive, though that is merely speculative. While there has been a cleaning, nice details remain and the very survival of this issue commands that it be in demand no matter the condition. This example presents an almost unheard of chance to acquire a coin with a story unlike any other.
Estimate: $1000 - $2000