Watch List notes:

Venezuela (struck at the Paris Mint by Barre), silver essai 1/2 real, 1863 E, extremely rare, NGC SP 61. KM-E3; Stohr-E23. A highly desirable and very important piece for Venezuelan numismatists, with deeply toned fields and legends outside of bright silver centers that make the bust of Paez (inside the legend CIUDADANO ESCLARECIDO) really stand out, strong die-polish lines on obverse (easily mistaken for hairlines), from an anachronistic series in Spanish reales. Only ten essais of this denomination were minted (a Paris Mint tradition) of which only three are known in private hands, the most recently auctioned being the Count Ferrari-Wayte Raymond-Rosenman-Badler example sold in June 2019 by Numismatica Maracaibo (graded slightly higher as SP 62 at NGC), plus at least three in museums. It is unknown whether any of the recorded specimens was sold in Schulman in 1911 (Salbach) and 1966. The present piece is being auctioned for the first time. General Jose Antonio Paez was a prominent figure in the War of Colombian Independence but also fought successfully to separate Venezuela from Gran Colombia in 1830, serving as its first president off and on until 1863. The 1863 essais were for coinage struck as a propaganda measure by the dictator toward the end of the Guerra Federal (1859-63), before Paez stepped down and left the country. The actual coins were sent back to Paris and melted.

Estimate: $20000 - $30000