DOMINICA. Dominica - Mexico. 11 Bits (8 Shilling 3 Pence - Dollar), ND (1798). George III. PCGS VF-30.
KM-3.3; Prid-21. Issued by decree of 12 September 1798. Countermark: Centrally pierced from the obverse with 15 crenations. Applied to a 1798-Mo FM Mexico bust 8 Reales of Charles IIII (IV) (KM-109). This beautifully preserved survivor displays lovely rich old cabinet patina with a slight iridescent sheen and areas of glossiness. Pleasing to the eye and wholly original looking, the present piece, though not the finest known of the type it certainly ranks high in terms of quality and eye appeal. The Holey Dollar issues of Dominica and Tobago appear to be quite similar, but in fact are distinctly different. The most significant of which is the side each coin was pierced from; Dominica from the reverse while those of Tobago were pierced from the obverse. This can be further corroborated by several 4 Bits examples from the later Dominicia 1813 series (Ponterio NYINC 1/2011 Lot # 897 & DNW COINEX 9/2015 Lot # 2156 [Ex: J.G. Murdock, Ex: Richard Peltzer, Ex: Julius Guttag]). Though most of the 4 Bits issues are significantly worn with little remaining original detail, the two cited examples clearly show design features of the Spanish colonial reverse motif. Upon further comparison and examination it becomes apparent that the central piercing was also removed from the reverse, but the application of the crowned 4 appears to have been applied at the discretion of the worker. The 1813 Act caused the earlier issues to become very scarce with limited survivors. Now with respect to the present piece, though the style of cut is identical to the Dominica issues of 1798, it is very clearly pierced from the opposite side similar to the Tobago Holey Dollars. There exists a few other pieces that share these characteristics, for example the 4 Reales from the DNW COINEX 9/2018 Lot # 5247 The Bob Lyall Collection (Ex: Edward Roehrs, Ex: Ray Byrne, Ex: H.D. Gibbs, Ex: R. Prann), that shares an identical piercing from the obverse and simply can not be ignored. Discussions with long time advanced collectors and West Indian academics tend to agree with the above assessment in how to determine the difference between the issues from Dominica and Tobago. Furthermore, it is now speculated that there are two distinct types from Tobago; Type I, crude elongated and slanted crenations and the Type II, with neat nearly vertical crenations. The present piece falls into the category of the Tobago Type II and should be considered EXTREMELY RARE and of great importance to the West Indies cut and countermark series.
Ex: H.D. Gibbs Collection (H.M.F. Schulman 3/1966) Lot # 1408.

Estimate: $2000.00- $4000.00