Collecting Spanish Colonial Pillar Coinage

[World Colonial]

I will limit this post primarily to my personal observations in collecting these issues. Unlike the South Africa Union and ZAR coinage in my prior posts, reference material exists for this series though it’s not easily available. The reference book I have is Frank Gilboy’s 1999 volume, The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America. It’s available but not often since the print run was limited to 500 copies. But since I do not have it with me as I write this, I will mostly limit my comments to those related to acquiring the coins as opposed to specifics on history and technical considerations. There could be others on this board who also collect these coins and who know more than I do about them and if so, they can add or modify what I have written.

 

In the event that there is someone reading this post who is not familiar with these coins, it is the issue with the Spanish crown on the obverse (Bourbon I believe but I cannot recall with certainty) and the two columns and a crown surrounding the old and new world (eastern and western hemisphere) floating above the ocean waves on the reverse. (Most collectors consider the pillar side the obverse, but that is actually not the case according to Gilboy.) The columns have the legend “PLVS” “VLTR” (meaning “more beyond”) and this is sometimes attributed as the origin of the ($) though I am not aware that this has been proven.

 

These coins were issued in denominations of ½ Real. 1 Real, 2 Reales, 4 Reales and 8 Reales at seven mints in what today are six countries. The face value of this coinage approximated competitive issues such as the USD (where they circulated as legal tender until 1857) with the 8R equivalent (or about) to one dollar.

 

No gold coinage with this design was struck for circulation. The Chile and Colombia denominations were issued in miniscule quantities and did not include every denomination which is why I have not listed the dates for them below. These are:

 

• México City (Mo) 1732-1772;

• Potosí, Bolivia (PTS monogram) 1767-1770;

• Lima, Peru (LM) 1751-1772:

• Guatemala City, Guatemala (G) 1754-1770;

• Santiago, Chile (So);

• Nuevo Reino (Santa Fe de Bogata), Colombia (NR); and

• Popayán, Colombia (PN)

 

The typical US coin collector’s knowledge of these issues is (presumably) generally limited to the reference in the US “Red Book” to the Mexico 8R on page 3 (maybe it is another page now). That was the case for me until 1999. I first saw another issue (a 1770 Bolivia 8R) at an ANS exhibit which is probably when I decided to attempt to collect these coins. I now have 30 primarily NGC issues, mostly minors.

 

General comments on availability

 

Gilboy uses a rarity scale that is somewhat similar to the Judd US Pattern scale for those who are familiar with that book. (It might not be his but that is where I have seen it in my copy.) The difference between his scale though and Judd’s is that he uses a more confusing set of terms. Instead of R1 to R8, he uses C(ommon), N(ormal), (S)carce and S(carce) 2 and finally R(are) to R5. According to his book, these rarity scales apply to coins in VF or above except for the “scarcest” coins, though I see no definition of which those are but have come to assume it is for R4 and R5 specimens. This scale is applied not just to mint, denomination and date, but also to die varieties for which there are hundreds listed.

 

Based upon my recollection, C is approximately equal to R1 with over 1000 estimated survivors and R5 I recall is unique to 3. However, I cannot say that my personal experience is consistent with his observations and presumably that of the typical collector (if there is such a thing) of this series. I do not generally buy coins only in VF, as most of mine are AU or better, but my experience is not consistent with what he claims the availability of these coins to be. I will cover this shortly.

 

Patterns

 

Gilboy lists two coins that are not regular issues. The first is a 1729 Madrid (Crowned “M”) 8R which he specifically states was a prototype for the Mexico coinage. He does not specify how many of these coins were struck. The second is a 1770G gold 8 escudos that is not a pattern and the purpose of the coin is not known or at least not provided by Gilboy.

 

There is also at least one copper coin with the pillar side which sold at a Heritage auction a few years ago. I know nothing about it except that presumably it is a very rare coin. Gilboy does not list it and I have no idea which mint produced it though it may have been Mexico City.

 

Mexico issues

 

In general, the Mexico issues are by far the most common and the 8R is definitely the most common of any pillar issue as a type coin. It’s a common coin by any standard. Most of them are probably in the VF range but based upon my experience, usually they are problem coins including corrosion, cleaning (very typical though the grading services appear to give some latitude) and other damage such as “chop marks”. Some collectors collect chop mark coinage but I consider them inferior. It’s a form of damage and though I would never buy such a coin, it is definitely an impaired coin and should be bought if at all only at a substantial discount.

 

In higher grades, the 8R is a lot scarcer but it still frequently comes up for sale at major auctions. Heritage frequently has multiple examples (of different dates only) in their world coin sales. According to the NGC census, the 1754 is the most common date with over 200 mint state examples. It must be a hoard coin though I have never read the origin of this hoard.

 

Most collectors probably collect these coins as a type coin though there may be more specialists than I am aware of. But in any event, the price variances for most of the dates do not seem to be that great and I do not believe they are consistent with the actual availability and scarcity. The rarest Mexico 8R is the 1772 with two specimens known, including one in the Mexico national collection. The 1732 is the second scarcest and is a highly sought after coin. Possibly it is because the price is higher, but I have seen this coin for sale more often than many other 8R issues from the other mints.

 

After these two, the next scarcest seems to be the 1733. After that, I am only guessing but despite what Gilboy claims in his book, my impression is that the earlier dates are scarcer in at least better grades than most or all of the later dates. I’ve seen few AU or better issues (problem free anyway) from the 1730’s. Most of them are from the 1750’s and 1760’s.

 

On the other denominations, the collecting demand does not seem to be that great but these are much scarcer coins. The 4R is by far the scarcest followed by the 2R and then the 1R which is probably slightly scarcer than the 1/2 R. The 4R is an extremely difficult coin to find at all and even harder in any problem free grade. I have two of the 2R in mint state and they occasionally come up for sale. The others slightly more. Of these coins, the 1732 is the scarcest for all of them. I have only seen one or two and they were badly worn.

 

Bolivia issues

 

Bolivia was late in minting pillar coinage and only did so for four years from 1767 to 1770 before the Bust/Portrait coinage was introduced in 1772.

 

According to Gilboy, all of these coins range from N to the lower rarity levels (I cannot remember exactly) but anyone who thinks that finding these issues is not difficult will be badly mistaken if they try to find them.

 

As with Mexico, the 8R is the most common – by far – though the 1767 and 1768 are much harder to find than the 1769 or 1770. The latter purportedly had a mintage of about one million though if so, most of them must have been melted because they are not that common. The best specimens known to me are a 1770 NGC MS-64 and a 1768 MS-62. I’ve also seen the 1769 and 1770 several times in AU (though some of them were probably cleaned). But in any event, these coins are multiple times as difficult to find or scarce versus the Mexico 8R.

 

The other denominations are very difficult to find, at least in decent grade. One of the reasons for this is that they apparently circulated for a long time. The auction firm Ponterio told me once that this coinage was still circulating in the early 1900’s. My father is from Bolivia and even today, it’s a relatively remote place and must definitely have been so 100 years ago. My experience with these coins is consistent with this, as almost all of them are badly worn.

 

I have only seen one 4R in mint state (a 1767 at a Ponterio sale with an estimate of $12,000) and none of the others in any grade better than AU. An auction earlier this year appeared to have a 1767 1R in AU but I was not able to win it. I have a 1770 NGC XF-40 4R, a 1767 NGC VF-35 2R and three NCS coins (1/2, 1 and 8).

 

Peru issues

 

These coins are somewhat more available than the Bolivia issues since they were minted for about 20 years, but outside of the 8R, few specimens are to be found available for sale and this is especially true of better problem free coins.

 

Once again, the 8R is the most common denomination. It’s not that hard to find one if you are not picky about the grade or buying a problem coin, but better specimens (AU or better) is scarce or rare. The rarest date is the 1751 with two specimens known, including one which I believe sold earlier this year, though it may have been the 1752 (another very scarce date).

 

The minors are also much scarcer as with the other mints. The 4R is an almost impossibly difficult coin to find at all and I have seen few of them in better condition. I recall one 1756 AU on eBay earlier in this decade, a 1771 XF that I should have bought but did not and a 1757 in an auction last year. There have probably been a few others but I just cannot remember. The Gilboy book illustrates several superb plate coins (as he does for many other issues) but I have never seen such a coin.

 

On the other denominations, the 2R is somewhat scarcer than the 1R and 1/2 R but not by much. I have a 1771 NGC MS-62, 1770 PCGS AU-58 and 1765 NGC XF-45 2R. The only other dates I have seen graded are the 1754 (NGC AU-53), 1761 (several times) and the 1758 (an NGC MS-62 with a partial weak strike). I have occasionally seen a few other decent raw coins at public auction (probably mishandled at least in some if not most instances) but not many.

 

Of the 1/R and 1R, I have 7 of the former and three of the latter, all graded NGC AU-58 to NGC MS-65. I actually own most of the better ½R in the NGC census and about half of the better 1R. (There were no AU or better issues of either denomination in the PCGS census the last time I looked.) Occasionally, I see a few high quality specimens raw, but not often. Two such occurrences were actually earlier this year when I saw a 1752 1R in about XF and a 1753 1/2R in mint state or so but I lost out on both of them. My goal is to complete the entire set of these denominations in AU or better (assuming dates such as the 1751 1/2R can even be found, much less in this grade) and it will probably be a LONG time before I see these issues again, if ever.

 

Guatemala issues

 

As difficult as it is to find most of the better specimens from the prior three mints, this mint is far more difficult. The only denomination which is occasionally available at all or in any decent grade is the 8R. Most of the dates for the other denominations are almost impossible to find at all and when they do come up for sale, it is in a quality which a collector who is not familiar with these issues would consider unacceptable.

 

The reason for this was because of the inferior equipment which was available due to the lack of capital provided by the Spanish crown. Gilboy states that this mint either exclusively or primarily (I cannot remember which) had access to discarded Mexico City equipment at exorbitant prices.

 

And the quality of the strikes and available specimens is definitely consistent with this claim. There are few “normal” looking coins at all. The only ones I have seen are a few of the 4R from 1754-1756, including my 1754 NGC XF-45 4R. The most common dates of this denomination are the 1758, 1762 and 1768. These are the only dates that come up for sale with any frequency.

 

I’ve never seen a decent 1/2R, 1R or 2R and the only ones I own are a 1763 NGC VG-8 1/2R and a 1759 VF Details NCS 2R. The NGC census lists an NGC MS-66 1R and this coin must be a “wonder” coin to have survived in such a high grade. Almost every single coin I have ever seen is either holed or otherwise impaired.

 

Chile and Colombia issues

 

I have grouped these two mints together because for most collectors, these coins are out of reach and always will be. Outside of the recently discovered 1770 8R for which 14 are reportedly known, approximately 12-15 Columbia coins exist (for the 8 and 1 Real combined) and possibly as many as 50 from Chile.

 

Aside form the current 1770 NR 8R in the Heritage auction, I believe I have seen another Colombia 8R NR come up for sale once or twice (there is also a 1759 and 1762) and a Columbia 1760 1 Real also sold in the November 2004 Cayon auction. It is one of seven known and probably the finest in existence.

 

For the Chile coins, the 1755 and 1758 8R are the most “common” and I have seen each for sale maybe twice. There was also a 1760 2R (unlisted in Gilboy) that sold in the June 2006 Heritage auction for about $2000 to $3000. It might even be unique (who knows) but it was a holed VG or so.

 

Summary

 

Compared to other options in the coin collecting universe, I would rate this coin as one of the most historical and a legendary issue. I have not discussed the pricing, but considering their history, scarcity and artistic appeal, I think they are dirt cheap, especially the better coins that I am trying to buy. I doubt that many collectors try to buy this series by date and/or mint combination. Most of them are probably trying to buy one (usually) Mexico 8R as a type coin and a few might be trying to collect the entire Mexico date run, except for the 1732 and 1772. I’m still trying to eventually get a denomination mint set from the four primary mints plus as many of the minors from Peru and Bolivia as I can find in better or high grade. I imagine it will keep me busy looking for a long time.

[ant]

thanks again! good reading.

[tenacious]

Thank you world colonial for the informative post!

 

For myself, I just collect the occasional nice 8R example when I find them. I have just a few. Although I'm going to start collecting a few examples of the smaller denominations.

 

Your pursuit of a "denomination mint set from the four primary mints" sounds like an interesting and fun challenge. Good luck with that.

[World Colonial]

Thanks for the compliments.

 

I do have one correction to make on what I wrote. I just checked the "Red Book" again and it actually DOES reference the other mints and denominations. I must have simply overlooked it. But in any event, I do not believe that most collectors who are familiar with this design are aware of the others.

 

I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, but if you can find one, the most affordable quality coins are the Mexico 1/2R, 1R and 2R in AU. You should be able to find one of the (supposedly) common dates for less than $200, I have a 1754 Mexico 2R NGC AU-50 and two 1758 Mexico 1/2R NGC AU-55 and NGC AU-58 that I bought in that range. It was several years ago but they should still sell for about the same price. I will buy as many of them as I can find in that quality and price range, even duplicates.

 

But the prospective buyer also has to be careful on what they pay when they do buy these coins. Even though I've been following them for just over 10 years, they come up for sale so infrequently that I cannot really tell you what the going price is NOW. You'll seldom find them in any dealer inventory (certainly not any better specimens) and when you do, I've seen some really exorbitant prices being asked for them.

 

For the Mexico 8R, I believe that $600-$700 is a reasonable price to pay for the more common Mexico 8R in certified AU-50 to AU-55. I sold a 1736 NGC AU-50 on eBay earlier this year for $600, though I might be sorry I did so later.

[James_OldeTowne]

This is terrific information, and summarized very well. Thanks for making the effort to present this!

[TwoKopeiki]

Great write-up.

 

With regards to your comment about the large number of 1754 MS examples from Mexico - there was a good discussion about these on coincommunity forums a while back. Realeswatcher did a nice write-up with some investigation of the submission certification runs - good read: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=85899#924051

 

I like the pillar series for the same reasons as you do and agree with your statement that it's "the most historical and a legendary issue".

 

Even though I'm primarily collecting later portrait series of 8 Reales, I have a great appreciation for pillars and working on acquiring each of the ruler examples in PCGS AU+

 

Here's my 1763/2 pillar of Carlos III in PCGS AU55 plastic:

 

 

~Roman.

[World Colonial]

Thanks for your compliments.

 

I like your coin. I have seen a decent number of AU and MS Mexico 8R (images almost exclusively) and sometimes the grades are a mystery to me. Compared to others I have seen, your AU-55 has a decent strike and the color looks good also. Most of the ones I have seen are too bright which looks unnatural to me.

 

Since I wrote the original post, I have seen a few other coins for sale that I covered. Stacks or B&M (at the time) had a Guatemala 2R in VF that sold for about $1600. Daniel Sedwick last year offered another 1760 1R that he graded XF which did not meet the reserve price. The Peru 17518R I mentioned was actually a 1752 which is scarce, but more common.

 

I have acquired a few more of these issues for my collection since the original post but nothing special. Earlier this year, I bought a 1755 and 1759 Peru 2R in AU from auction firm Marti Hervera. It was a gamble but though the detail was accurately described in the listing, the surface preservation was not. Both were cleaned at one time which is not unusual but I do not believe NGC or PCGS will assign them a numerical grade. I bought them because they are scarce and the best I have seen but I would not advice anyone to buy from this firm (or Cayon) without the expectation that this might or is likely to happen.

 

Outside of Heritage, Spanish auction firm Calico is probably the best source for these coins. And though I think they are somewhat better, I still think that many of their coins also have problems that are not disclosed because my success with them has been mixed. An AU 1734 Mexico 8R I bought from them came back from NGC as "tooled". They missed it. I did as well but I think it is something they should have caught.

 

Cayon recently sold the same 1769 AU-MS 4R Heritage did a few years ago but did not disclose that it had been cleaned. They also offered a Bolivia 1768 4R that I would grade as either MS or an AU-58 from the image, but it must have had hidden flaws because it did not even meet the opening bid of 540 Euro. If it really looked as good as the image, it should have sold for $5000 or more. For this denomination from Bolivia, this is actually the scarcest date from my obsevations, though most consider the 1767 rarer.

[Veni Vidi Vici-migration]

Awesome Article, thanks for bringing it current.

[mkman123]

Thank you for the information and I hope to get one sometime

[coinman1794]

This is my latest Spanish Colonial pickup; there are only two coins graded by NGC for this date!

 

1775 Mexico 2 Reales NGC XF45

 

[TwoKopeiki]

Very attractive 2 bits!

[coinman1794]

Thanks! It is exceptionally well struck and choice original. It is among the nicest, circulated, portrait 2R I have handled.

[TwoKopeiki]

Just added a few armored bust 8 Reales of Ferdinand VII to my PCGS competitive set. and I have an 1808 pictured below in PCGS AU55 on its way to me. Only 5 coins away from finishing it, but the overdate and the over-assayers are tough varieties to find in problem-free AU/MS.