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COLOMBIA, Bogotá, gold bust 2 escudos, Charles IV, 1798 J•J, with private countermark "LAC"

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins By Country Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:700.00 - 1,000.00 USD
COLOMBIA, Bogotá, gold bust 2 escudos, Charles IV, 1798 J•J, with private countermark  LAC
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COLOMBIA, Bogotá, gold bust 2 escudos, Charles IV, 1798 J•J, with private countermark "LAC" in monogram, rare. Restrepo-89.16; Cal-1393; Fr-56; KM-60.1. 6.51 grams. Well-struck and problem-free XF+ with lustrous fields, weak rims (as made), the AU-grade countermark deeply impressed. For whatever reason, the smaller Colombia gold coins of Charles IV became scarce after around 1796-7, this date and denomination singled out in Restrepo as being rare. The countermark (believed to be from the early 1800s) is also rare, in fact seen on only five coins, all but one Colombian, this being the only 2 escudos, as follows:
Madrid ½ escudo 1766 (Aureo & Calicó, April 2009, lot 1169)
Bogotá 8 escudos 1795 (Stack's Bowers, May 2023, lot 71243)
Bogotá 8 escudos 1819 (Morton and Eden, March 2013, lot 215)
Bogotá 8 escudos 1793, ex-Roehrs Collection of U.S. Regulated Gold (Heritage, August 2010, lot 21391)
We note with interest that the last-mentioned piece (clipped down to 412 grains) was among U.S. regulated coinage following a 1793 Federal standard, raising the possibility that the countermark may be the hallmark of a goldsmith.