Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 1 4 January 2015
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Guatemala
Ferdinand VII "Proper Bust" 8 Reales 1808 NG-M F12 NGC, Nueva Guatemala mint, KM69. Quite attractive for the designation, unflawed and still retaining decent detailing, particularly on the bust side. The key date of the Ferdinand VII 8 Reales series struck in Nueva Guatemala, with less than 10 confirmed specimens, all struck from a single pair of dies. This apparently anachronistic issue was due to the Royal Ordinance of April 10, 1808 which was sent to the mints of the Americas before Ferdinand VII surrendered his throne to Napoleon on May 9, 1811 and reads as follows: "regarding the fact that the coinage ought to be minted with my royal name and no other alteration, I have instructed that until the (new) master dies are received the coins shall be minted as until now with the bust and name of my august father and without variation of the date and that later some coins shall be minted from the new master die and my bust and name and the date of 1808 proving that I have reigned in it (in that year)". Naturally, this royal ordinance was originally intended to be only provisional and effective for 1808 since the new master dies were expected to be sent and received in that year. However, Napoleon's invasion of Spain meant that the new master dies would not be sent until 1811. In the interval 1808-1811, the various mints gave different interpretations to the aforementioned ordinance: some (as Guatemala , Potosi, Nuevo Reino and Popayan) kept minting with the previous bust of Charles IV while others (Mexico, Lima, Santiago) engraved local renditions of Ferdinand VII, thus creating the so call "imaginary bust" issues. In 1811, the Nueva Guatemala mint finally received the master dies, and struck coins featuring the proper bust of Ferdinand VII and the date 1808. Very rare in any grade, as noted previously and an historically important issue.From The Santa Maria Collection
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
Ferdinand VII "Proper Bust" 8 Reales 1808 NG-M F12 NGC, Nueva Guatemala mint, KM69. Quite attractive for the designation, unflawed and still retaining decent detailing, particularly on the bust side. The key date of the Ferdinand VII 8 Reales series struck in Nueva Guatemala, with less than 10 confirmed specimens, all struck from a single pair of dies. This apparently anachronistic issue was due to the Royal Ordinance of April 10, 1808 which was sent to the mints of the Americas before Ferdinand VII surrendered his throne to Napoleon on May 9, 1811 and reads as follows: "regarding the fact that the coinage ought to be minted with my royal name and no other alteration, I have instructed that until the (new) master dies are received the coins shall be minted as until now with the bust and name of my august father and without variation of the date and that later some coins shall be minted from the new master die and my bust and name and the date of 1808 proving that I have reigned in it (in that year)". Naturally, this royal ordinance was originally intended to be only provisional and effective for 1808 since the new master dies were expected to be sent and received in that year. However, Napoleon's invasion of Spain meant that the new master dies would not be sent until 1811. In the interval 1808-1811, the various mints gave different interpretations to the aforementioned ordinance: some (as Guatemala , Potosi, Nuevo Reino and Popayan) kept minting with the previous bust of Charles IV while others (Mexico, Lima, Santiago) engraved local renditions of Ferdinand VII, thus creating the so call "imaginary bust" issues. In 1811, the Nueva Guatemala mint finally received the master dies, and struck coins featuring the proper bust of Ferdinand VII and the date 1808. Very rare in any grade, as noted previously and an historically important issue.From The Santa Maria Collection
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD