SANTO DOMINGO. Santo Domingo - Venezuela. 1/4 Real, ND (ca. 1813-20). Ferdinand VII. NGC AU-55.
KM-2. This piece dating to the reign of Ferdinand VII, and delivers strong details, despite the slightly uneven nature of the surfaces from the crude production. Very little actual circulation is seen, and this example is quite strongly assured numerous bids from the many specialists in Latin American and Spanish Colonial coinage. Tied for the finest yet certified by NGC. The seldom encountered copper coinage of Maracaibo struck during Venezuela's War for Independence was issued by order of Captain General Fernando Mijares 13 March 1813. Struck for a period of about six months, these issues were immediately met with disapproval by the local populace and were generally unaccepted by the public. These crude necessity issues were plagued by forgeries and coupled with the general dissatisfaction from the citizens were ultimately discontinued in September the same year. Research conducted by Venezuelan numismatic scholar Luis Roberto Ponte in the General Archives of the Indies in Seville revealed that a total of 4,987 pounds was exported to Santo Domingo on 15 January 1815. This piece of information gives an explanation as to why so few survivors known today. To our knowledge only about 3 pieces are known to have survived that have not been overstruck with about an additional 10 that are known as host coins for a Santo Domingo 1/4 Real. While it is possible that the undertype was entirely obscured during the process of striking this coin, it does not appear to be overstruck on a Maracaibo Real, suggesting that it is part of the rarer sub-set of the two for the issue.

Estimate: $1500.00- $2000.00