VENEZUELA. Imitation Cob 4 Reales, "800" (1817). FINE.
Rosenman-p.44/45. A most intriguing and VERY RARE imitation Cob, this piece likely represents a tacitly approved counterfeit approved by Viceroy Montalvo as necessity coinage. UBS in a prior description of this coin relays: "Pedigreed to a land find in old Chagre Village at the mouth of the Chagres River at the foot of Fort San Lorenzo, Panama. Previously unpublished. The "date" numerals were punched in with a tiny circle punch, used four times with the first figure being two times one on top of the other. Thus the second and third digits are half the size of the first... The shortage of small coins and the need for them caused an 'officially sanctioned fraud' which was necessarily short-lived in a fiscally exacting and conservative Spanish empire including this area of Santa Marta. As few as nine examples are now known of a coinage that obviously would have been withdrawn and discarded as quickly as the authorities could afford to do so." As such this example will certainly intrigue many collectors of Latin American coinage seeking a most interesting piece of numismatic history.
Ex: Ponterio 146 (4/2008) Lot # 2391. Ex: UBS 70 (3/2007) Lot # 300 @ ChF 1,900 hammer (~$1,564).

Estimate: $1000.00- $2000.00