Wednesday 15 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Keep An Eye On The
Rivers, CNE Advises
Court Orders CCSS To
Perform Tests For In
Vitro Fertilization
ICE Announces
300.000 New GSM Lines For December
AOL Founder Steve Case’s
Project in Costa Rica
Delayed Until 2010
Costa Rican Kids
'Disarmed'
Everything Costa
Rica Up for Grabs in Spink Smythe Sale
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Everything Costa Rica Up
for Grabs in Spink
Smythe Sale
By Tom Michael, Market
Update
One of the worlds
largest and most
comprehensive
collections of Costa
Rican coins, stamps and
bank notes is scheduled
to be sold next week
through the offices of
Spink Smythe in New
York. Experts have been
hard at work cataloging
the massive amount of
material to be offered
in three auctions over
three days, October
22-24.
Friend and numismatic
cataloger Normand Pepin
has been kind enough
both to seek our advice
and consultation on
Costa Rican coinage and
to give us a nice
insight into what the
collection encompases.
From the coin end it
seems this collector was
methodical in his
pursuit of die varieties
and combinations. Silver
type coins in the
collection were compiled
by date, with many
examples of most dates
present. Meticulous
notes were made by the
collector and this data
has been watched closely
by Pepin and Matthew
Orsini, VP of Auctions
at Spink Smythe. Most of
the die study
information will not be
included in the sales
catalog, but Orsini said
that the individual
flips do have such
information, so that lot
viewers will be able to
pinpoint things very
closely. For those who
cannot view the lots,
Orsini says that
additional information
will be made available
on request.
Of course, the most
significant rarities
will offer die variety
information when
available in the lot
write-ups. Some of the
rarest and most
wonderful coins to be
offered in the sale
include the following:
" The excessively rare
1873 GW gold 20 Pesos in
uncirculated condition
" An 18- Pattern 50
Centavos, reeded edge,
struck in brass
" A near gem
uncirculated 1876 GW
gold 10 Pesos
" Two uncirculated 1873
GW gold 5 Pesos, KM118
" A blazingly beautiful
uncirculated 1842 MM 1
Escudo
" An uncirculated
example of the 1831 CR E
8 Reales
" The very low mintage,
very high grade 1837 CR
E Central American
Republic 8 Escudos
" Am amazingly well
preserved 1855 JB ¼ Peso
grading AU55
and some less expensive,
lower grade, but
none-the-less tough to
acquire silver pieces:
" An 1867 GW 50 Centavos
graded VG
" An 1870 GW 50 Centavos
graded VG
" An 1870 GW 5 Centavos
graded AU58
" An 1872 GW 5 Centavos
graded choice AU
" An rare 1868 GW 10
Centavos graded Fine
Some of the silver Tree
Reverse denominations
are impossible to find
in nice condition and
some of the individual
dates have extremely low
survival rates. To the
best of my knowledge the
highest grade for a
known example of the
1870 GW 50 Centavos is
fine, while the finest
know 1868 GW 10 Centavos
is VF. Note that even
this extensive
collection did not
contain an 1872 GW 50
Centavos.
The Frederick R. Mayer
collection was carefully
built over the years and
meticulously cataloged
and kept. Keep an eye
out for several examples
of rare Heaton Mint
proofs, many of which
will probably exceed
catalog values to
establish new
benchmarks. The same
will be true of the vast
number of Costa Rican
countermarked types the
Mayer collection offers.
Many will undoubtedly go
well over their presale
estimates.
For Costa Rica
specialists this sale
will be a real event.
New collectors, staid
family numismatists,
museums and Central
American hobbyists
should all be competing
for material and after
the smoke clears
everyone will need a
copy of this catalog in
their library for future
reference.
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