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Costa Rica, 8 reales, 1846JB 2-reales counterstamp (Type V) with "8" countermark on a Guatemala cob

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World (A-G) Start Price:6,500.00 USD Estimated At:7,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Costa Rica, 8 reales, 1846JB 2-reales counterstamp (Type V) with 8 countermark on a Guatemala cob
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This item SOLD at 2018 May 16 @ 11:08UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Costa Rica, 8 reales, 1846JB 2-reales counterstamp (Type V) with "8" countermark on a Guatemala cob 8 reales, 1739(J), extremely rare, ex-Haberthuer. KM-59. 26.43 grams. This curious coin merits attention on several levels. First, it is an example of multi-country usage, as it was originally struck in Guatemala under Spanish rule in 1739 but was then counterstamped for official circulation in Costa Rica more than 100 years later, at a time when Costa Rica was an independent country, but with “Republic of Central America” stated on the counterstamp, in reference to the brief federation between Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua that began in 1823. This counterstamp is the same as is seen on the common 2 reales, and in fact the stamp bears that denomination explicitly, flanking the trunk of the iconic ceiba tree (above assayer initials JB for Juan Barth) that characterizes Central American coins of that period, as does the design of volcanoes under sun and rays on the other side, which shows the date 1846 at bottom, the legends reading REPUB. DE CENT. DE AMER. / HABILITADA EN COSTA RICA. On the higher denominations of 4 and 8 reales, however, this counterstamp is accompanied by an incuse countermark (note the difference, namely that a counterstamp is two-sided) showing either “4” or “8” (depending on the denomination) with “4R” or “8R” in relief in the center of the number, as authorized by decree on October 15, 1846, to be applied only on coins deemed of high enough quality. On this specimen both the counterstamp and countermark are bold and deep (VF), and while the host is typically worn (VG), it bears a clear date and lacks a hole near the edge, as is normally the case, or any other damage except a large but inoffensive edge-crack next to counterstamp that was caused by the 1800s stamping. This combination counterstamp / countermark is quite rare today, particularly on a Philip V host (not shown in any references, like Elizondo, Murillo, Gurdian, Mayer, Duenas and Chacon, and believed to be missing in the Richard Stuart collection), and the present example is among the finest known on any host, pedigreed to the collection of the late Joseph “Sep” Haberthuer of Guatemala City.
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