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Valparaiso, Chile, mountains over VALP countermark (1833) on an Argentina (Potosí) 4 reales, 1815F,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - World Start Price:6,500.00 USD Estimated At:6,500.00 - 8,500.00 USD
Valparaiso, Chile, mountains over VALP countermark (1833) on an Argentina (Potosí) 4 reales, 1815F,
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This item SOLD at 2009 Oct 15 @ 22:36UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Valparaiso, Chile, mountains over VALP countermark (1833) on an Argentina (Potosí) 4 reales, 1815F, extremely rare. KM-A112. 13.1 grams. For the serious Latin American collector, this fascinating countermarked issue is so rare that only 2 are known, and this is considered the finer, with clear but doubled (rotated) countermark with volcano and another mountain over the letters VALP for Valparaiso on a lightly toned and slightly lustrous VF host. This coin was originally struck at the Potosí mint after it was taken over (for a second time, the first time in 1813) by the independent government of the Provinces of Río de la Plata (later Argentina) in 1815. In 1824 the design of this coin was used again at the La Rioja mint in Argentina, but the La Rioja coins were found to be of lower fineness, and Chile banned them in 1832. The 1813 and 1815 Potosí issues were still legal, however, and needed to be countermarked to show their status. Six treasury offices in Chile (Chiloe, Concepcion, La Serena, Santiago, Valdivia and Valparaiso) were given authority and punches to countermark the coins, and all of these marks are rare today, but particularly the Valparaiso mark. Only 2 specimens are known in this size, the present coin and an 1815 4 soles (not 4 reales), which makes our coin effectively unique as a type.