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  Philip IV (1621-1665)

Gold Cobs from the Colombian mint at Cartagena (1622,1626-35)

It is now clear that a mint, technically an oficina, began to operate in Cartagena in 1621 under the treasurer Capt. Alonso Turillo. Turillo brought with him to Cartagena dies prepared in Spain for a silver and gold coinage. A very limited gold coinage was struck in 1622 using the same dies that he had used in Spain to prepare patterns he had shown Philip III. Turillo had to return to Spain in 1622 to face charges, and the Cartagena mint was inactive until his return in 1625. A very small gold coinage may have resumed in late 1626 with some surplus 1622 dies, though no fully dated coin yet confirms this [See the discussion below]. Two escudos and apparently a very few one escudos were produced annually for nine years, 1627-35.  Political pressure from officials at Bogota succeeded in closing the rival mint at Cartagena in 1635. Cartagena reopened without permission in the Fall of 1655 to help with the great recoinage of that period, but Cartagena never struck gold after 1635.

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C12. Cartagena, 1633 C E/inverted E , two escudos.

Unique variety  unlisted in any reference work (Lasser, Restropo). Well struck, lustrous, choice surfaces. Large planchet with most of PHILLIPUS visible (very rare on any Cartagena two escudos).

6.7 gms. NGC XF 45, but probably AU in terms of wear.

      This is a new and puzzling variety of the already rare dated 1633 issue. Lasser and Restropo record the inverted assayer E variety, but this is something different. For some reason, the Cartagena mint decided that they needed to re-issue a "corrected" version of the inverted E die. First they repunched the assayer mark E in the correct orientation over the inverted E, creating something that looks like an H closed at the top and bottom. Then they replaced (repunched) the dots above and below the E with large crosses or stars. The crosses are exceptional and puzzling: this kind of reworking of a die already in service never happened before or after at a Colombian mint--and certainly not for "decorative" purposes. No other Cartagena die has crosses flanking the shield.

It seems likely that the Cartagena mint wanted to clearly distinguish this gold issue from the previous C with-inverted E issue. Repunching the E was not conspicuous enough, so they added the crosses or stars. In the absence (so far) of a definitive answer from archival sources, we are left to speculate on the reason for this issue.  Perhaps the with-crosses issue is using gold from a different source? In any case, something unusual was going on in Cartagena in 1633. Spanish Colonial mints did not capriciously pull dies from service and re-engrave them. Recall an exception that proves the rule: commemorative with-stars Lima issue of 1746.

My friend Joe Lasser and Jorge Restropo did an admirable job in their monograph on Colombian gold cobs, but it is now clear that the Cartagena story is somewhat more complicated than the chronology they published in 2000 and 2006.  The 1626 issues remain dubious, NRE issues continued into the 1630's, and some special issues like this 1633 with stars/crosses make the story even more interesting. A careful study of the Cartagena mint is overdue.

Available. Price on request.

terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293

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C8. Cartagena 1628 RNE, two escudos [SOLD]

     All dated Cartagenas are rare, but  four digit 1628's are very rare.

     Exactly three are known. Joe Lasser did a buy-at-any-price search for

     these rare early Cartagenas for 20 years and could find only two coins.

    This 1628 was impounded in the fabulous Caballeros Collection for

    over 35 years and not available to Joe. Arguably, this 1628 is the highest

    grade and best of the three, especially on the shield side where shield

    and crown and all the mint markings are beautifully defined on a near mint

    state coin.

 Needless to say, neither NGC nor PCGS has seen a better 1628.

Overdates were not a rare phenomenon at Cartagena, though the references books do not yet recognize this. 1631/0's exist in some numbers. 162x/2 exists ( see the research coin below). Very possibly, our coin is a 1628/7, though the late die state make this impossible to ascertain with certainty. My attempt at (nearly impossible) close photography of a slabbed coin is below. The irregular shape of the 8 looks like a crude effort to re-engrave a 7 as 8. Serviceable 1627 dies would certainly have been re-engraved for continued use at the frugal Cartagena mint.

Three full date are known, a reasonable consequence of a low mintage and poor survival. My 30 year search for more suggests not many or perhaps no more exist. Dated Cartagena two escudos are without doubt the rarest Spanish Colonial series.

This s 1628 Cartagena two escudos was lot 114 in the fabulous Caballero de las Yndies (noted by NGC on the insert).

SOLD.

terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293

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C11. Cartagena, two escudos, 1634/3 C E,  very rare. NGC AU 58.

          Only the second dated 1634 known and unique as an overdate.

          Unknown to Lasser or Restropo, whose Moneda de Colombia 3rd edition

          remains the definitive text. But for this and one other dated coin, we

          would believe the scant mintage of 1634 completely lost.

In mid-1630, we now know, Cartagena was finally authorized by Philip IV to strike a gold coinage. It had been doing so annually without authorization since at least 1626. Cartagena celebrated this belated recognition by dropping the old Nuevo Reino mint mark of RN and introducing the Cartagena mint mark of C. Unfortunately, things did go well for the Cartagena mint in the period 1630-35. A much reduced gold supply from worked-out Colombian mints and unremitting opposition from the rival mint at Bogota guaranteed that the annual mintages would be small. Cartagena and Bogota had what one scholar of the coinage (Jorge Proctor) describes as a "pissing contest" that Bogota finally won by persuading Philip IV to order the Cartagena mint closed in 1635. Bogota celebrated by melting every Cartagena it laid eyes on, guaranteeing that the Cartagena gold would become rare.

     Besides the rarity and importance of this 1634/3 issue, we should note that it is nearly mint state, a great rarity for any Cartagena gold. No Cartagena two escudos of any date has been graded above AU 58 and we have never a truly mint state specimen.

Available. Price on request.

terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293

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Two views of the harbor at Cartagena:

on the left, Boazio map of 1589, looking south;

on the right, a contemporary photo looking north.

It is a beautiful city, well worth a visit.

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Research Topic: Did the Cartagena mint issue two escudos in 1626?

We have dated reales that testify to a (meagre?) output of a Cartagena silver coinage in 1626. One dated 1626 eight reales is pictured on page 83 (M45-6) of Restropo's Monedas. Restropo's opinion is that 1626 two escudos may exist though none are confirmed ("No se conocen piezas de 1626 pero son possibles.")

In Ponterio's NYINC '09 sale, lot 581, this apparently unique specimen surfaced.

The obverse of this Cartagena two escudos matches the design assayer E is believed to have used in 1627. NRE to the right of the shield, denomination to the left. See Restropo's M52-4 on page 90 of Monedas. Records tells us that assayer E (Echeverria?) came to the Cartagena mint in 1626. (Obverse and reverse show significant sea corrosion, but the coin is still slightly over 6.7 gm.)

What is different and apparently unique about this two escudos is the reverse. It is not of a style that assayer E used in 1627-35, but in the same style as found on the gold SF coinage of 1622, believed to have been struck briefly in Cartagena in that year. It does not match any reverse used with known 1622 specimens, but it is the same design. The date on this two escudos is 162X, with the last digit covered or obscured with a large illegible blob of material. No trace of the digits 6 or 7 or 8 can be seen. What can be seen, low at the left of the blob, is the sharp point of a second 2. So this coin is an overdate with the overtype completely illegible: 1622/X. A conjecture that strongly suggests itself is that this is an unused or still serviceable reverse die from the 1622 coinage pressed back into service with a re-engraved date when the gold coinage resumed in 1626 or 1627. I don't think we can go beyond that conjecture until another example of this issue surfaces and allows us to decipher the mysterious 1622/X overdate.

Anyone who owns a second example of this 1622/X, need I say, would discover that I am very eager to examine the coin.

terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293

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