By Chris Chatigny, Cataloger
The Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio official
auction of the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo this November is
rapidly coalescing into an impressive sale. Following the extraordinary Stack’s
Bowers and Ponterio August ANA and Hong Kong auctions, the Baltimore
show will offer world and ancient coinage, as well as U.S. coins, tokens,
medals and exonumia including world and U.S. currency. In the eight weeks
before the show starts we will offer various articles previewing some of the
highlights from the auction. To start things off this week will showcase a gold
piece from Mexico’s First Republic.
This gold 8 Escudos dated 1873
was minted in the town of Hermosillo which was named the capital city of the
Mexican state of Sonora in the year 1879. Although its origins date back to the
early 1700s, it was not given its current name until 1828 when it was named
after General Jose Maria Gonzales de Hermosillo who fought in the War of
Independence against Spain. The state leased the mint to private individuals
and companies during most of its existence. The mint ceased operations and
closed in 1895. During the Mexican Revolution, Hermosillo became the meeting
place of Carranza’s war cabinet and was the capital of Mexico for about five
months.
The obverse of the coin depicts the national
arms of Mexico, which evoke the legend of the founding of Mexico City, then
known as “Tenochtitlan.” The legend begins with an Aztec oracle pronouncing:
“Settle where an eagle is found perched on a cactus, tearing a snake apart.”
This symbol has been used on Mexican coins since as early as 1823. The obverse
for this piece bears these icons as well. The eagle stands triumphant atop the
cactus, wings spread with one claw grasping the cactus and the other holding
the tail end of the snake. The eagle is biting the snake near its head, as it
prepares to pull it apart. Two branches, oak and olive, are twined together by
a bow knot, and form a half border along the bottom of the coin. The words:
“REPUBLICA MEXICANA” complete the outer border for the coin.
The reverse is dominated by the
“Liberty Cap” design. A forearm is shown holding a stick, with the liberty cap
resting atop. An open book, with its visible page reading “LEY” (Spanish for
law) is just to the left of the hand. The upper inscription: “LA LIBERTAD EN LA
LEY” means “Liberty within the law.” The lower inscription of 8E signifies the
denomination of 8 Escudos, the monogram of “Ho” for Hermosillo, the date of
1873, the mint assayer’s initials: “P.R.” for Pablo Rubio, and finally the
fineness of the gold expressed in karats (21 quilates). This coin displays a
choice lustrous quality, and is graded by NGC as a Mint State 64, the finest
certified 8 Escudo (of any date) for the mint of Hermosillo. This coin is sure
to draw a crowd when it crosses the block at the November Baltimore auction.
Look for this and other world
numismatic rarities in our upcoming November Baltimore sale. Preview this
impressive coin along with the rest of our auction this October at the Stack’s
Bowers and Ponterio office located in Irvine, California. For details please
refer to the Auction Schedule/Details link under Current Auctions at
www.StacksBowers.com. To schedule an appointment, please call 800.566.2580.
While our Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio November Baltimore sale is closed for
further consignments, we are currently taking consignments of world and ancient
coins for our January New York International, and April 2014 Hong Kong sales.
If you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a whole
collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment
directors.
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