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Puerto Rico (under Spain), dollar, fleur-de-lis countermark (1885) on a USA (mint not visible), $1 M

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World (P-Z) Start Price:3,000.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Puerto Rico (under Spain), dollar, fleur-de-lis countermark (1885) on a USA (mint not visible), $1 M
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This item SOLD at 2021 Nov 05 @ 15:10UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Puerto Rico (under Spain), dollar, fleur-de-lis countermark (1885) on a USA (mint not visible), $1 Morgan, 1880, PCGS Good detail / holed, very rare. Cal-unl; KM-unl. The fleur-de-lis countermark of Puerto Rico was that island's only official countermark and was created after a decree on November 27, 1884, by the Governor, General Luis Daban, preventing the importation of more holed coins to Puerto Rico, the countermark being the official device to prove certain coins were on the island before the decree, which naturally prompted fake countermarks to be made as well. This example shows a full, genuine countermark (Davila's Type IV), the coin well toned and heavily worn but with bold date, with an enlarged hole at top from wearing on a key chain (unfortunately obliterating the mintmark, if there was one), very rare to be found in dollar size and the first fully authenticated example we have seen or heard of on a Morgan dollar (others are all seated Liberty or earlier). Amazingly this coin has resided in the same Puerto Rican family from its creation until now. Sra. Montserrate Hernandez Ramirez, born in 1883 in Maricao, Puerto Rico, received this coin as a gift from her father, Ruperto Hernandez, and left it to her son, Dr. Luis Amoros, when she died in 1958. Dr. Amoros died in 1965, and his widow, Hilda Alvarez, kept the coin and eventually passed it on to her son, Luis Alwin Amoros, Esq., from whom it was recently acquired and subsequently consigned to our auction. A very important piece for all US collectors, not just in Puerto Rico, and especially desirable for its fully documented pedigree and authentication. PCGS #42910152. With letter from expert numismatist Dr. Ovidio Davila Davila (author of Estudio Numismatico de las Primeras Monedas de Puerto Rico: Los Resellos de "flor de lis" de 1885 [2012]) certifying the authenticity of the coin and countermark.