Gold Coins of South America

[Kookaburracollector]

What started out as a joke about a llama (Vicuña) with another forum member back in July 2019, has led me to start collecting one particular gold coin from South America....

The Peruvian Una Libra (One Pound) KM#207 

Weight : 7.9881 gms

Fineness : 0.917

Obverse : Shield within springs with radiant sun above

Reverse : Head with headband facing right (Manco Capac)

Edge Description : Reeded

Initially, I thought I would just get the one, and managed to buy one off the forum (thanks to @Cornishfarmer) and recently had it graded.

Basically, this coin is the Peruvian equivalent of the British Sovereign...but much rarer in some cases, and way cheaper to buy😃👍!

The second Una Libra I bought (1968) came from Ebay, (for under £300!😃). A quick trip to NGC via Numi, and it comes back a great grade...MS64.

To be continued...

Looking forward to see what you all have tucked away from South America...there must be lots of interesting gold coins to be revealed!

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Kookaburracollector

[richatthecroft]

They are beautiful coins- keep on collecting, it’ll be good to get an update of where you are with them down the line.

Maybe add a 100 Soles down the line 😉 just for the size and weight- one sold on the-saleroom.com yesterday- MS62- the 31% buyers premium put me off- hammer price was just shy of £1400- impressive coin. 

[augur]

The Sugar Barons in Cuba used slightly bigger coins for their daily shopping 

Not quite 100 soles territory, though. 

[augur]

@Kookaburracollector that 1968 is a stunner!

[Kookaburracollector]

38 minutes ago, richatthecroft said:

They are beautiful coins- keep on collecting, it’ll be good to get an update of where you are with them down the line.

Maybe add a 100 Soles down the line 😉 just for the size and weight- one sold on the-saleroom.com yesterday- MS62- the 31% buyers premium put me off- hammer price was just shy of £1400- impressive coin. 

At £1400 it will be staying in the-saleroom😂...

[richatthecroft]

It would be a nice thing to own:

Weight (grams): 46.8071

Pure gold content (grams): 42.1264

Fineness: 900.0

Dimensions: 36mm diameter

[Roy]

@richatthecroft curse you!

Do you know of others for sale? 😍

[richatthecroft]

51 minutes ago, Roy said:

@richatthecroft curse you!

Do you know of others for sale? 😍

To make things worse Roy, when I’ve just looked again it was a MS63 and hammer price was £1250 so around £1650-  +8% -but likely an inordinate amount of postage to add on top.

I feel sorry for the vendor- giving all that commission to the auctioneer- a fool and his money...

Apologies for my inaccurate information earlier- I was distracted and been chastised by my wife at 10am yesterday morning at the time of the auction- she was accusing me of squandering two days of my week off ‘coining’- during the ‘debate’ with her- I wrote £1380 down for some reason.

To make matters worse she accredited me akin to  ‘Jack and his flaming beanstalk’- I had to remind her that I am not Gordon Brown/ John Macdonald...31 years of blissful marriage. 

I digress- Bullion by Post recently sold one at £1702. 

Theres always a few on Ma-shops but Apmex always has stock. 

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by richatthecroft

[Roy]

😄

This hobby can be 'all-consuming'!

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep my eyes open 👍

[Toshunya86]

21 hours ago, augur said:

The Sugar Barons in Cuba used slightly bigger coins for their daily shopping 

Not quite 100 soles territory, though. 

Is this coin called Jose Marti ? Or is it another one ? 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Toshunya86

[augur]

Yes @Toshunya86, it’s the José Martí. It was also issued as 2, 4, 5 and 20 Pesos. In good condition the smaller ones are actually more expensive than the 10 Pesos which I acquired. 

[Toshunya86]

Thank you. I just saw that coin regularly under the name Jose Marti ; but never really digged into it.

I stay true to my "European coins only" policy - Britain excluded - when I buy coins.

I do enjoy looking at some south American coins though . A lot are very beautiful .

I agree with many here that the 50 soles is particularly beautiful . Peruvian Libras and libertads are beautiful too 

For bullion the 50 pesos is also beautiful.

[Kookaburracollector]

Peru Una Libra (1898-1969) A bit more about them...

Graded ones obtained so far:- (Picture from Today I Received)

The libra, also known as the libra peruana de oro ("Peruvian gold pound"), was a unit of currency issued in Peru between 1898 and 1931. It was equivalent to 10 soles and was issued in the form of gold coins and banknotes, which circulated alongside coins denominated in centavos and soles. 

Other smaller denominations have also been produced:-

1/5 libra: 15 mm diameter, 0.0471 troy ounces of gold

1/2 libra: 19 mm diameter, 0.118 ounces gold

1 libra: 22 mm diameter, 0.235 ounces gold

The first libra coins were minted in 1898, to the same standard as the British sovereign (113 grains of pure gold). In 1901, Peru adopted a gold standard based on the libra worth 10 soles. The gold standard was maintained until 1932 (see Peruvian sol for more details). Coins were issued until 1930, banknotes until 1933. No Libras were minted between 1930 and 1959.

Obverse: On the obverse in the center there is the national emblem of Peru, supported on each side by two different branches: palm and laurel. The sun shines over the heraldic shield. The inscription “REPUBLICA PERUANA-LIMA” extends almost along the entire length of the rim, leaving room for the year of issue (the date is indicated along the lowest rim).

Reverse: The reverse side of 1 libra is decorated with a bust of an Indian (Inca warrior - Manco Capac), turned to the right, crowned with his mascaypacha 🤔? The reverse inscription is “VERDAD I-JUSTICIA”. The letters are bent around the top half of the rim. At the bottom edge under the image there is the denomination of the coin “UNA LIBRA”.

[augur]

2 hours ago, Kookaburracollector said:

Peru Una Libra (1898-1969) A bit more about them...

Graded ones obtained so far:- (Picture from Today I Received)

The libra, also known as the libra peruana de oro ("Peruvian gold pound")

Very nice! You even got a mini date run (1917, 1918, 1919)

Edited December 11, 2019 by augur

[Toshunya86]

Are these coins circulated  originally , or commemoratives ? OR some are restrikes of others ? 1902 to 1964 is a huge time period.

[Kookaburracollector]

2 hours ago, Toshunya86 said:

Are these coins circulated  originally , or commemoratives ? OR some are restrikes of others ? 1902 to 1964 is a huge time period.

A bit of everything...they run from 1898 to 1969. As Peru adopted the gold standard, the coins were originally used as  currency up until 1931. Then there was a long pause until 1959. After which, Peru used these coins principally as a method of international trade payment.

I am not aware of any re-strikes, although I am pretty new to these myself, so by no means an expert.

 

[Kookaburracollector]

2 hours ago, augur said:

Very nice! You even got a mini date run (1917, 1918, 1919)

That’s about the only date run I will get on these rare creatures....

I realised from day 1, that I would never complete a date run on these rare coins...for several reasons.

Firstly, when you look on numista, there are 49 different Una Libras identified...so far so good 😊 

When you then cross reference against Una Libras graded by NGC and PCGS ..’Houston, we have a problem’! 7 year dates do not exist!

In that, both companies have never seen seven of the year dates..ever..!..that doesn’t mean they don’t exist ..just that they are rare and have not been graded. 

Furthermore, of all the Una Libras graded by these two companies...there are 22 year dates where only three or less have been graded for that particular year...these are rare coins, and hard to track down....and that’s the fun of it all..the chase!🦙.
 

 

[Gildeon]

I want one (you know which...)! 😏

[augur]

On 06/12/2019 at 11:57, richatthecroft said:

Maybe add a 100 Soles down the line 😉 just for the size and weight

The closest I could offer in this respect is a 100 Bolivares

Sorry, no good light this time of year; the reverse is actually quite lustrous but this greenish gold mined in Guyana is not the most photogenic anyway. 

[Kookaburracollector]

This would make me a nice Christmas present! 

 

[Kookaburracollector]

A couple more coins (Perú Una Libras) to add to the collection. I hadn’t intended getting ‘spares’, but at spot +6% how could I refuse. Both look to be MS, and will be heading over the pond for grading some time later this year.

Bought from an emporium in Oxfordshire...

 

[Toshunya86]

I find the 5 quetzales of Guatemala - Even though this is central America -particularly beautiful as well .

Edited January 19, 2020 by Toshunya86

[Kookaburracollector]

6 hours ago, Toshunya86 said:

I find the 5 quetzales of Guatemala - Even though this is central America -particularly beautiful as well .

I was looking at one of these not so long ago thinking the same! Unfortunately, the Una Libras are a higher priority at the moment...maybe once my collection of those is larger, I can move on to these!

[augur]

23 hours ago, Toshunya86 said:

I find the 5 quetzales of Guatemala - Even though this is central America -particularly beautiful as well .

I would also draw the geographical line for this thread South of Mexico. Coins of the Central American Republic (República del Centro de America) are very attractive and unfortunately also quite dear.

As the thread operator I am also focusing on South America (here Caribbean) for the time being. 

[Kookaburracollector]

Just picked up 7 more Una Libras (see Today I Received), but this one deserves a special mention.

It’s hard to notice on the photograph, but this coin is quite a different colour to the rest. It seems to have a dull greenish tint to it, when compared to the rest, maybe from copper???
 

Also happy to have got the first year of issue 1898..not in great condition but just had to have it😃!