Ferdinand VI gold 8 Escudos 1747 Mo-MF AU53 NGC, Mexico City mint, KM149, Cal-780, Onza-596 (Very Rare). An exceedingly rare one-year type struck in Mexico in 1747 from locally engraved dies. This imaginary bust issue was produced after a Royal Ordinance from Madrid was received in Mexico in May of 1747, instructing change to 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 only 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. Showcasing only lightly handled motifs and flashes of mint bloom emanating from the legends, this lovely toned and bold piece will likely engage Spanish colonial and Mexican type collectors.

HID09801242017

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