Ferdinand VI gold 8 Escudos 1747 Mo-MF AU55 NGC, Mexico City mint, KM149, Onza-596. An exceedingly rare one-year type struck in Mexico in 1747 from locally engraved dies. This imaginary bust issue was struck after a Royal Ordinance from Madrid was received in Mexico in May of 1747, instructing to change the coinage legends and design for the new King Ferdinand VI. Shortly after its receipt, the interim Director of the Mexico Mint, Andres Morales de los Rios, proposed to the Viceroy Juan Francisco de Guemes that new dies with an imaginary bust representing the new king be produced while new instructions (and punches of the new king's bust) were received from Spain. The ordinance instructing the new imaginary bust coinage bearing the legends of the new king was passed on May 29, 1747 (see AGN Mexico, Casa de Moneda, Vol. 87). Since the new punches with the correct Ferdinand VI bust, engraved in Madrid, were received at the end of 1747, the various denominations issued with the imaginary bust of Ferdinand VI were all one-year types. Among these, the large-sized 8 Escudos is the most impressive, though the others are of comparable or sometimes even greater rarity. The offering at hand is similar to lot 30256 in our August 2020 Platinum Night Auction #3085, though inches just past this specimen by virtue of its lesser circulation wear. The specimen retains a charming degree of mint luster, minimally impacted by use in exchange, with all central features clearly contoured and the reverse positively bathed in mint luster, something that can certainly not be said for all circulated coins of this fleeting issue. Ex. Besalu Collection

HID09801242017

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