Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature Sale 3035 Online Sess. 9-10 September 2014
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Costa Rica
Uncatalogued Pair of 1890 50 Centavos, KM124. From the final year of the locally produced silver type, this denomination being the only one still produced in San Jose after 1887 when Birmingham England coinage were first produced for local circulation. During 1885 -1886 -1887, as indicated in the KM book listing for 1885, a small CB (designer initials) was discreetly punched below or on the ribbon at lower reverse; such was omitted on the reverse dies generally used in 1890, perhaps because of the Birmingham influence. This pair has the standard 1890 reverse type plus a rare second style with a tiny but bold CB below the reverse wreath. The rare piece has been linked to a known 1887 reverse die identified by Holland Wallace as such in his research for Fred Mayer; it is from the Mayer collection and was the only one detected. That one is VF and the standard 1890 is attractively toned EF- A. UNC with much luster. While others will be detected as collectors search for such, this pair is likely to remain quite scarce. For the record, all 1890 examples of the 50 Centavos shown as 1890/ 80 were likely struck from leftover dies with the first three digits (188x) punched but not the final digit.
Estimate: 300-450 USD
Uncatalogued Pair of 1890 50 Centavos, KM124. From the final year of the locally produced silver type, this denomination being the only one still produced in San Jose after 1887 when Birmingham England coinage were first produced for local circulation. During 1885 -1886 -1887, as indicated in the KM book listing for 1885, a small CB (designer initials) was discreetly punched below or on the ribbon at lower reverse; such was omitted on the reverse dies generally used in 1890, perhaps because of the Birmingham influence. This pair has the standard 1890 reverse type plus a rare second style with a tiny but bold CB below the reverse wreath. The rare piece has been linked to a known 1887 reverse die identified by Holland Wallace as such in his research for Fred Mayer; it is from the Mayer collection and was the only one detected. That one is VF and the standard 1890 is attractively toned EF- A. UNC with much luster. While others will be detected as collectors search for such, this pair is likely to remain quite scarce. For the record, all 1890 examples of the 50 Centavos shown as 1890/ 80 were likely struck from leftover dies with the first three digits (188x) punched but not the final digit.
Estimate: 300-450 USD