Description: Heres an incredible rarity, with an estimated survival rate around 20 or so pieces. 1808 Guatemala Proper Bust 8 Reales NGC AU Details Sea Salvaged. "This back-dated issue was due to the Royal Ordinance of April 10, 1808 which was only later sent to the mints of the Americas before Ferdinand VII surrendered his throne to Napoleon, which reads as follows: "regarding the fact that the coinage ought to be minted with my royal name and no other alteration, I have instructed that until the (new) master dies are received the coins shall be minted as until now with the bust and name of my august father and without variation of the date and that later some coins shall be minted from the new master die and my bust and name and the date of 1808 proving that I have reigned in it (in that year)". Naturally, this royal ordinance was originally intended to be only provisional and effective for 1808 since the new master dies were expected to be sent and received in that year. However, Napoleon's invasion of Spain meant that the new master dies would not be sent until 1811. In the interval 1808-1811, the various mints gave different interpretations to the aforementioned ordinance: some (as Guatemala , Potosi, Nuevo Reino and Popayan) kept minting with the previous bust of Charles IV while others (Mexico, Lima, Santiago) engraved local renditions of Ferdinand VII, thus creating the so call "imaginary bust" issues. In 1811, the Nueva Guatemala mint finally received the master dies, and struck coins featuring the proper bust of Ferdinand VII and the date 1808." (Heritage). These issues were rarely seen and had an estimated survival of 10 or less pieces, until a hoard of 8 reales was discovered which is believed to have contained 4 of this type. In 2021, a NGC AU55 sold at Soler Llach 1121, lot 2423 for $8777 including buyers fee. Although impaired due to sea salvaging, this coin is still an incredible piece and a must for any Guatemalan collector.
Price: 3999.99 USD
Location: Mineola, New York
End Time: 2024-10-14T21:38:28.000Z
Shipping Cost: 29.99 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Year: 1808
Country/Region of Manufacture: Guatemala
Certification: NGC
