Thanks Ccg, I stopped in at Borders the other day (I don't own a normal Krause, just Spain and colonies one) and looked for the wave pattern. It does appear to be Korean, but I am not 100% sure. In any case it is only worth about a dollar or less, but it's still neat to me. Which 1/2c btw?

I got another one today!

This is a one year type (1790) transitional half-reale of King Charles IIII with King Charles III bust. KM#71.
11.5mm, 1.6g, Mo Mexico City mint Mexico, Assayer F.M.

The 1828 1/2c. I'm quite partial to high grade holed or slightly damaged pieces - nice to look at and fits the budget! Not to mention there's usually a story to tell.

The cash coin is listed in the '95 edition as C4.2, ND (1769-1860) Japan 4 mon. .30 VG, .50 F, 1 VF, 3 EF

Japanese cash coins are considerably less common than Chinese coins. Annamese (Vietnamese) are a bit scarcer, while Korean ones are rarely seen (though there are many that catalogue at $2 or less)

He's not the only one to have one of those 'fake Krause' catalogues. Mine must be similar and it's called "World Coins" - produced by Krause but just to make a few more dollars I presume...

Thanks for correcting me on that Ccg and for looking it up! I am also partial to half cents in similar shape to that one with a slight "problem". I paid around $35 or so for it, which was about $100 cheaper than the ones in worse shape without the small dig. I was happy to pay that for it, lol.




Basically they are making money on it, but for someone like me who would rather spend $70 on a coin and not a price guide about coins I went for the $30 alternative that is within my collecting field. I am glad they made that book for right now, but I know eventually I will be forced to buy all 3 1600-current Krause guides.

Another update today, last one for a while though. Anyway I got shafted on ebay (see my coin forum crud rant for that) but I did get a good coin as well. Granted this thing is worn pretty hard it was very cheap for the type.

1790 4 reale Charles IV designation with bust of Charles III
12.77g (13.5400 is normal but this coin is worn hard and thin planchet near Carolus)
PTS mintmark Potosi Bolivia, Assayer P.R.

4 reales are always the hardest to find, much harder than the 8 reale for any type.

Okay so it's only been 4 days since my last update...this only took two days to hit my doorstep, lots faster than I expected!

Anyway...this is quite a screwball in the 8 reale series. It is the "Lima bust" version in the series and is basically a made up image of King Ferdinand VII the engravers made while waiting for the dies to arrive from Spain...Madrid I think...not sure about that though.

Here is what I have been told and read....if any of this is wrong please correct me, I really want to know as much truth about these coins as possible and the internet is flooded with falsehoods about them.

This was minted in Lima Peru in 1810 and is the second of the type deemed the "Lima bust" which started being minted after King Charles IV's death in 1808. This (1810) was the second year of King Ferdinand VII's rule and obverse dies with his visage had not yet arrived in Lima. Instead of using a posthumus design with King Charles IV's visage, such as was being done in Columbia and Guatemala, the head engraver made a obverse die of what he thought the king looked like. Obviously the description was a bit off compared to what the later dies that arrived in Lima looked like.

This type is rather hard to find in nice shape, this one is around a F-Vf but my grading is a bit sloppy with these because of strike issues.

Anyway:
8 reale, King Ferdinand VII "Lima" bust
ME mintmark, minted in Lima Peru under Spain, Assayer J.P.
26.50g 39mm

Great coin! The design looks so primitive compared to contemporary designs but even earlier coins look modern. Know what I mean?? Thats what is fascinating about coins!

Although I think King Ferdinand VII looks like a goon on this coin I do like the style it was done in. You can tell this was a stylized portrait made by someone without a clear picture of what they were going to create. I wonder if any sketches exist from the master engraver? The interesting part about it is that this is the second incarnation of this type of bust, the previous KM# 106.1 (mine is 106.2) was in a very similar style. The fact that the engraver redesigned the dies is interesting and I wonder what his influence was to do so.

If you compare Portugal's coinage from this same time period, or even Spain's mainland coinage to the colonial issues you can see a huge difference in quality control. This coin was even struck from a somewhat rusty die because there are areas that are raised off the coin that mimic rust spots I've seen on others. These are not to be confused with casting bumps like a counterfeit though, they have a different look to them. You also have to think about the tools at Spain's disposal in the colonies and who was actually in power during this time period. King Ferdinand VII had to relinquish power to Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleons brother)in 1808 just months after he started his reign, until 1813 when the Bonaparte's were ousted from power. So most of the colonies were a bit lower on the kings priorities and certainly only the colonies (which some didn't even know or care that Ferdinand VII wasn't upon the throne...pshh loyalists!) continued to mint 8 reales with King Ferdinand VII's image. The odd part is that Joseph actually revalued the 8 reale coin as 20 reales, (inflation much?) I am not certain of the reason behind it, maybe something to do with the way France's money was divided up.

The coin I have above is a bit different than most of the ones of this type I've seen. If you look at the front of the head there is a small sprig of hair that protrudes outward. This hair style existed on 106.1 but normally not on 106.2 and I have to imagine that the die engraver messed up and carved in an extra bit of hair similar to the first issue style. I am curious because it is not a die crack and certainly is on the die, it's an interesting die marker and I think I may see if I can track down images of others struck from this same obverse. I always liked a good detective story...lol.


Okay, I'm rambling a bit much....shh..quiet fox.