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Guatemala, bust-type cob 1 escudo, Ferdinand VI, 1750/48J, unique, ex-Richard Stuart, Jara Plate Coi

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Gold Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Guatemala, bust-type cob 1 escudo, Ferdinand VI, 1750/48J, unique, ex-Richard Stuart, Jara Plate Coi
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Guatemala, bust-type cob 1 escudo, Ferdinand VI, 1750/48J, unique, ex-Richard Stuart, Jara Plate Coin. S-G2a; CT-type 55 (date unl); KM-A6 for type (date unl); Fr-3 for type (date unl). 3.30 grams The gold "cobs" of Guatemala (really hybrids that employed old, collarless manufacturing by hand with new designs intended for milled round coins), struck from 1733 to 1753, as a type are probably the rarest of all Spanish colonial gold coins, with only around twenty-five specimens known in the 8E denomination and ONLY FOUR known in the 1E denomination, the other three confirmed pieces being one of Philip V (hence a different type and dated 174[?] with last digit mostly off the flan) and two others both dated 1751/0. The last two appeared in the collections of Eric P. Newman (Heritage, January 2014) and Caballero de Yndias (Aureo & Calico, April 2009). The description for the Newman specimen put forward some evidence that the coin was actually machine-struck and therefore a different type entirely. In any case, the present specimen represents the only unique date for the extremely rare type. It should also be noted that the Jara reference work calls this coin 1750/49 whereas close inspection reveals the under-digit to be a clear 8 (or possibly 9/8). The coin itself is very hard to grade, as it is so crudely made (grainy fields and somewhat indistinct features), and while our best estimate is VF, we should point out that the piece probably saw limited actual circulation. It is also noteworthy that while the flan is typically undersized (and thus the legends are typically truncated), the all-important date and king's ordinal are both clear. Overall it is an exciting piece for both Guatemala collectors and Spanish colonial type-coin collectors, and we are thrilled to offer it as the first Guatemala gold "cob" to ever come through our office! Pedigreed to the Richard Stuart collection and Plate Coin on page 183 of Historia de la Casa de Moneda de Guatemala (2010), by Carlos Jara.