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8-REALES PILLAR VARIANTS
MINT OF MEXICO
   GENERAL DESIGN CONCEPT :

Obverse : Crowned hemispheres between crowned Pillars of Hercules. Inscription VTRAQUE VNUM (Union of two worlds), with mint marks at 4- & 8-o'clock, and year of mintage at the bottom.
Reverse : Crowned quarter arms of Castile and Leon bearing the Bourbon crest in center, "8" to the right and assayer's initial to the left. Inscription [monarch's name]·D·G·HISPAN·ET IND·REX* ([monarch's name], by the grace of God,
King of Spain and the indies/colonies).

The mint of Mexico was established in 1536. It was the capital of the Vice-Royalty of Nueva España.

According to Alberto F. Pradeau (Numismatic History of Mexico), the first of the pillar 8-Reales were struck on March 29, 1732 (or Feb 25, 1732 according to Orozco y Berra), The Royal Decree of Philip V (1700-1746) on 9 June 1728 brought a new age into Spanish colonial coinage. However, it also lowered the silver fineness from .925 to .916 (11 dineros). Average coin diameter is 37 mm.

Design Variation Concepts for Mexico Mint
YR/YR-X-AM-12345.a YR - the last two digit of the year appearing on the specimen. There are some cases where YR becomes YR/YR, and these are overstrikes. Example are specimen of 1733/2 overstrike.

mexico-mx.jpg (7206 bytes)

 X - appears on the specimen of 1733 where an experimental "M·X" mintmark was used
  AM - the assayer mark which appears on the reverse of the coin

monarch.jpg (15978 bytes)

 1 -the monarch's name appearing at the reverse inscription
1 : PHILIP·V 2 : FERDND·VI 3 : CAROLVS·III

 

 2 - the size and description of the main crown
0 (or none): moderately sized crown with full ellipse at the bottom of the crown (known as 'old-style' crown) 1 : large sized crown with a 2/3 arc at the bottom of the crown 2 : moderately sized crown without ellipse at the bottom of the crown (known as 'new-style' crown)

leftcrown.jpg (14940 bytes)

 3
0 (or none): royal crown at the left pillar 1 : imperial crown at the left pillar

his_separ.jpg (13509 bytes)

 4 - the point where the cross ("+") of the crowned crest of Spain at the reverse falls on the inscription.
0 (or none): "+" falls between "HI" and "SP" 1 : "+" falls between "H" and "ISP" 2 : neither condition "0" or "1" is fullfilled.
  .a - specifies errors or minor die variations compared to the basic year-assayer design
     

   VARIANTS

Other No System

Sample Lot
Remarks
Elizondo Calbeto Patterson Amat

32-F-1
mex32-F-1.jpg (38990 bytes)
DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -1
OBVERSE : "o" over M mintmark mexico.gif (602 bytes),  "VTRAQUE" as one word; main crown has a full lower ellipse ("old-style crown"); royal crowns on both pillars. There are die variation on the placement of the tip of the left crown in relation to the inscription "VTRAQUE", as well as the prominence of the lower ellipse of the main crown.

REVERSE : inscription “PHILIP·V·D·G·HISPAN·ET IND·REX”, with obvious space between “ET” and “IND”; "HI" + "SPAN" separation; assayer mark “F”; bottom 4-petal rosette.

First year of minting for the Pillar.
Assayer "F": Felipe Rivas Angulo
1 733 1 & 2 260 Lot 156 EOrtiz. KM#103

33-F-1

 2 737 3 263 see image

33/2-F-1

 - - - - overdate 1733/2. confirmed

33-X-F-1
DESIGN VARIATION
CODE : -X-

Uses the experimental "M·X" mintmark.
5 738 - -

moderately-sized crown (Photo in Elizondo)

33-X-F-11
mex33FX1.jpg (28578 bytes)
DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -11
OBVERSE : uses   "M·X" mintmark, (-$1) with a relatively large crown with a incomplete (3/4) ellipse at the bottom. [compared with Variant 32-F-1]
6 - 8 - Lot 1418 Superior Jun-1982

33/2-X-F-11

 5a - 9 261 overdate 1733/2.

33-X-MF-11

 Assayer "MF": Manuel de la Peña and Francisco de la Peña y Flores

7

739

 10 262 The "M·X" mintmark was only used in one particular year -- 1733. This is the fourth variant using that mintmark for Mexico

33-MF-11

 4 - - - photo in Elizondo

33-MF-1

 3 740 5 264 There is a die variant where the full lower ellipse is not so prominent as in Lot 6 APatterson or this.

34-MF-1

 9 743 11-14 265 see image

34/3-MF-1

 8 742 - - Lot 234 FLC Nov-1983

35-MF-1

 10 744 15 266 (colonial "5")

36-MF-1

 - - 17 - standard or large flan (40.5mm)

36-MF-1.sf

 11 745 18 267 sf=small flan (38mm)

36/5-MF-1

 - - - - confirmed

37-MF-1

 12 746 19 - Lot 166 FLC Nov-1981

38-MF-1

 15 748 20 268 see image

38/6-MF-1

 13 - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

38/7-MF-1  

14 747 - - .

39-MF-1

 16 749 21 269 see image

39/6-MF-1

 - - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

39/8-MF-1

 - - - - Lot 168 FLC Nov-1983

40-MF-1

 - 751 22 271 see image

40/30-MF-1  

17 750 24 - (4 over 3) Lot 1090 Superior Aug-1983

40/36-MF-1  

- - - 270 .

40/39-MF-1  

- - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

41-MF-1  

18 752 25 272 see image (looks like a 41/31)

41/31-MF-1

 - - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

42-MF-1

 19 753 27 273 .

42/1-MF-1

 - - 30 - Lot 1093 Superior Aug-1983

42/32-MF-1

 - - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

43-MF-1

 20 754 - 274 see image.

43/2-MF-1

 - - 31 - Lot 173 FLC Nov-1983

44-MF-1

 22 755 - 275 (wide date variety). see image

44-MF-1.1

 21 - - - Lot 113 FLC May-1980, Lot 434 LHRC-33 Nov-1985 (close date variety)

44/3-MF-1

 - - 32 - wide date variety

44/34-MF-1

 - - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation.

45-MF-1

 23 756 35 276 (colonial "5")

46-MF-1

 24 757 37 277 .

46-MF-1.e

 - - - - e=error in spelling "VTRUQUE" instead of "VTRAQUE" (believed to be a unique specimen)
Lot 855A Superior Dec-1990

46/5-MF-1

 - - - - Lot 1101 Superior Aug-1983

47-MF-1

 25

758

 39 278 .


Philip V died on July 9, 1746, but dies for Ferdinand VI did not arrived in Mexico until 1747. By that time there were already coins minted bearing the inscription of Philip V.

47-MF-2
DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -2
Design similar with the original Variant 32-F-1, except that REVERSE inscription (-2) “FERDND·VI·D·G·HISPAN·ET IND·REX”, with obvious space between “ET” and “IND” [start of the specimen of Ferdinand VI]
26 759 117 279 KM 104.1

48-MF-2

 28 761 - 281 see image.

48/7-MF-2

 27 760 119 280 .

49-MF-2

 29 762 - 282 .

50-MF-2

 30 763 121 283 (colonial "5" used in this specimen, as well as the succeeding years)

51-MF-2

 31 764 - 284 see image.

51/0-MF-2

 - - - - listed in KM. no actual confirmation

52-MF-2

 33 766 - 285 see image.

52/1-MF-2

 32 765 - - Lot 122 FLC May-1980

...Next Group --> Variants of 1753 to 1772

....

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Copyright 1998.  JTChen (Philippines) and CJara (Chile)