1251

Costa Rica, gold 20 pesos, 1873 GW, very rare, NGC MS 63 ("top pop").

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World (A-G) Start Price:60,000.00 USD Estimated At:80,000.00 - 160,000.00 USD
Costa Rica, gold 20 pesos, 1873 GW, very rare, NGC MS 63 ( top pop ).
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This item SOLD at 2023 Nov 03 @ 13:40UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Costa Rica, gold 20 pesos, 1873 GW, very rare, NGC MS 63 ("top pop"). KM-119; Fr-17. One-year type and a classic rarity of Latin American numismatics, from an estimated mintage of just 100 coins that were all believed to have been presented to dignitaries and friends of Costa Rican President Tomas Guardia Gutierrez (as related in Historia de las monedas de Costa Rica [2004], by Jorge Murillo), who commissioned the dies from German engraver W. Kullrich. Fewer than fifteen are known to exist today, with eight offerings in the past twenty years (including Eliasberg and Caballero), the last being an MS 61 in 2021 and an AU 55 in 2016, plus three offerings prior in 1982-89 (Hammel, etc), most of them slightly mishandled but all touted as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to acquire this important rarity. However, the present piece, now in its first public offering, tops them all, as it has the best strike of any we have seen (either published or in private collections, better even than those housed by the Smithsonian [ex-Lilly] and the Central Bank of Costa Rica), with very bold and sharp details emanating from smooth, lustrous fields, lots of eye-appeal, practically no marks, and certainly no wear, plus without any planchet flaws as noticed on others. Such a coin does not enter the market without causing a stir among advanced Latin American collectors, many of whom would want this as a showpiece.
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