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Abuelo's Collection

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  1. Here we go. Just got it last week. This amazing 1 escudo from Mexico is one of the highest graded for the whole 1 escudo series (milled) during Colonial times. It is both a conditional and an absolute rarity. Enjoy!
  2. I just got these 3 colourful 25 centavos from Mexico. All Top Pops, rare, and good looking:
  3. Hello! I have not uploaded a coin to the forums for a while but I am very happy for this one. A 50 centavos from the Second Republic in Mexico. And from a provincial mint! And nicely toned! So hard to get in nice condition. Enjoy!
  4. Yes @EdG_Ohio in the early manuscripts like the Tovar Ramirez codex, there is an eagle devouring a bird! The current official arms include a rattlesnake, but that is a mid XX century design. XIX century coins do not show a rattlesnake. In fact I do not think that is until the stilised eagle from the 1970s that is finally seen a rattlesnake as a matter of common use.
  5. Hookneck 8 escudos! There are 2 varieties of this coin, this is Type II, the rarest of them (the Phrygian cap points to the T, and the snake has a loop on the tail). Both Hubbard and O'Harrow on their book Hookneck, and Long in his book on the gold coins of the Mexican Republc, mentioned that there are maybe less than 24 known coins. And everyone agrees this is a very rare issue for Mexican numismatics. The dies for their mintage were ready until December 24, 1823, so technically they had less than a month to produce these coins. Hubbard and O'Harrow list a total of 16 offerings for the Type II coin between 1935 and 1995. Long lists 24 sales for Type II coins between 1935 and 2004. Likely few times the same coins are listed. That has to give an idea of how rare this coin is. The year 1823 was the only one that minted Hookneck 8 escudos.
  6. @Quintus Arrius you have a point, but the odds of finding a much better Second Republic 50 centavos are very slim. And even if you do, they are so rare that is hard to believe the few gem examples that exist will drop in value. Cheers!
  7. Low mintage (165,000) and gem grade. A killer combination! It is not that much of a rarity like my previous coin, but is a magnificent specimen.
  8. In our favourite section “Coins you have never seen before, coins you are not likely to see ever again”, this specimen. Coins from the Early Series of the Charles and Johanna series for Mexico City are all rare, particularly lower denominations as the 4 reales were minted in larger numbers to ship to Spain. Assayer F is perhaps the rarest of all assayers in the series. His name and tenure dates are unknown. Cori Sedwick Downing in her paper “The Charles and Joanna Coinage of Mexico City, 1536-1571: A Research Study on the Early Series and Introduction to the Late Series” (unknown to me the date of publication) wrote that Assayer F minted ½, 1, 2, and 4 reales. “There are approximately 26 coins known in collections and auctions, with the majority from the “Golden Fleece wreck” (ca. 1550), one from the “Ines de Soto wreck” (ca. 1557), and none from the Spanish 1554 Fleet (Padre Island)”. She describes the main type of 1-real coins: Latin M-F flanking shield and left-leaning rhomboid banner between pillars. In her paper “An Overview of Charles and Johanna Coinage from Mexico City Mint” (USMexNA Journal 2017) she wrote ”I have cataloged only 36 Assayer F coins, in all denominations”. As we can see, there were few more coins described between both papers. Kent Ponterio in his paper “The Coinage of Mexico Struck During the Reign of Charles and Johanna” (revised June 2009) he stated that Assayer F is the third assayer of the Early Series. “Coins of this assayer are anywhere from extremely rare to unique” and suggests he was an interim assayer sometime in 1540 or 1541. He suggests 3 possible candidates: Francisco de Loaysa, Esteban Franco (also favoured by Ms Downing), or less likely, Francisco Rodriguez (from the Santo Domingo mint). As of today, is the only real graded by NGC for the assayer and type, therefore Top Pop.
  9. Mexico City 2 reales. Tough denomination in high grade. Nearly impossible series.
  10. Welcome back! And keep up with the fight!