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Philip IV (1621-1665)
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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 the patterns he had shown Philip III. Turillo had to return to Spain in 1622, and the Cartagena mint was inactive until his return in 1625. A very small gold coinage may have resumed in late 1626 with surplus 1622 dies, though no fully dated coin yet confirms this [See 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 for one year in 1655 to help with the great recoinage of that period, but Cartagena never struck gold after 1635.
C2. Cartagena, two escudos, 1631 C E A very rare, dated 1631 "large shield" variety. Probably the finest known collectible example of this date and variety (Lasser-Restropo M52-15) Shipwreck coin!
Joe Lasser assembled a superb collection of Colombian cobs in the 1980's. The collection was disbursed at auction in 2005-2006, though many of the finest cobs were retained and donated to the public Williamsburg Collection, where they can be viewed today. One of the coins Joe donated to Williamsburg coin was the plate coin for this date and variety, M52-15. That coin and this coin are the ONLY TWO clearly dated 1631 large shield Cartagena two escudos known. In fact, Joe's collection, assembled with a virtually unlimited budget, contained exactly two dated 1631's. This coin was not available to Joe, but it would have been another star of his Cartagena collection.
Two dies pairs were sufficient to strike the 1631 issue. This is the large (and attractive) shield variety. For some reason assayer E also struck some two escudos with a much smaller and narrower shield design--perhaps a small shield punch was prepared for a one escudo issue that was never materialized. The large shield variety is found paired with a reverse that shows a very unusual re-engraved date. The final digit (1) was either mispunched or damaged, and had to be re-engraved by hand. Maybe the Cartagena die cutters were a little to fond of the local rum, or for whatever reason, the die cutter did not have a steady hand and recut the final 1 with a wavy base and angled stem. The digit 1--look at 11 0'clock on the image above--looks more like a cursive L. For years the few coins showing only just this wavy base were thought to be 1632's.
Besides being a very rare dated 1631 large shield, this has some mysterious origins. We know it was in a South American collection until very recently, but before that it was a shipwreck coin. You can see on both sides of the coin an attractive red-brown matrix with lighter coral inclusions. Some day soon it will be possible to locate the shipwreck where this coin was found within 10-20 miles just by its unique matrix and coral. A preliminary estimate by one scholar who has seen my photos suggests the Caribbean coast of Panama. NGC has done a pretty good job attributing this coin, but they have mistaken sea effect for wear in their grading. The shield side especially show very little evidence of circulation, suggesting it was lost soon after it was struck in the 1630's. Get out your Bob Marx shipwreck guides and see what the likely candidates are!
All Cartagena two escudos with a clear date are rare. This well struck, lustrous specimen is probably the finest collectible example of the large shield 1631 issue, of which perhaps a half dozen dated specimens exist in total.
Available for $4350. terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293
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C1. Cartagena, two escudos, 1635 E, [SOLD] rare final issue of the Cartagena mint, very rare dated, probably the finest 1635 two escudos surviving. This coin is the plate coin for 1635 in Lasser's and Restropo's references books on Colombian gold coins. Full weight at 6.8 gms on a huge 22.5 mm planchet.
Dated Cartagena two escudos compare in rarity with rare date Lima two escudos, but still sell for about 2/3 of the price of the Limas. That disparity will not persist as more South American and European collectors discover how rare dated Cartagena gold cobs are. There are probably more 1714 Mexican two escudos than all Cartagena gold cobs from all dates. If you wish to own any dated Cartagena gold cob, much less a Lasser-Restropo plate coin, and don't want to pay over $5000, the opportunity to do so is about to disappear.
SOLD.
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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 very eager to examine the coin.
terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293
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