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Martes 01 de Enero de 2013 10:06

La valoración por conservación de los 8 Reales peninsulares de busto de Carlos III

por Ernesto Gutiérrez Guinea
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La Pragmática de 29 de mayo de 1772 de Carlos III es una de las cuatro disposiciones Reales que han tenido una mayor y mas prolongada influencia en la regulación monetaria llevada a cabo por los Austrias y Borbones españoles. Las otras son: la Orden de 1566 de Felipe II por la que se cambió el diseño de la moneda castellana modificando el del tiempo de los Reyes Católicos que se había venido usando también por Carlos I, introduciendo el escudo imperial de los Hagsburgo en el anverso de la moneda, la Pragmática de 1686 de Carlos II por la que se adicionan nuevos tipos, las Marías, con un peso reducido en un 20%, manteniendo las mismas denominaciones, y la Ordenanza de 1728 de Felipe V por la que se ordena la recogida de la moneda macuquina anterior y una emisión de nuevos tipos con escudo de la Casa de Borbón en las Cecas peninsulares, y los llamados columnarios en las cecas americanas, modificando aunque de forma no muy drástica las características de peso y ley de las monedas labradas en la metrópoli y en ultramar.
La Pragmática de 1772 tendrá una larga vigencia prolongando sus efectos hasta la completa emancipación de las colonias americanas en 1825, tras la batalla de Ayacucho y en la metrópoli, hasta el final del reinado de Fernando VII. En entradas posteriores analizaremos los aspectos técnicos de esta disposición, así como sus efectos en la política monetaria española de la época. Por el momento, baste decir que los tipos de: armas Castilla y León en anverso y escudo de la monarquía en el reverso, que llevaban siendo acuñados durante mas de dos siglos, dan paso a las llamadas monedas de busto, con cordoncillo impreso a virola en el canto, con la representación del torso del monarca en el anverso, rodeado de la inscripción: CAROLUS III. DEI.G. en el anverso, en el que también figura la fecha en su parte baja, y escudo de España (o bien, propiamente, de Castilla) coronado, con contornos redondeados y cuarteles alternados con castillos y leones, rodeado de la inscripción HISPANIARVM REX (Rey de las Españas) que expresada en castellano figurará también en las piezas de Isabel II hasta la introducción de la peseta en 1868.
Lo que ya sí nos resulta indispensable en la presente entrada es analizar la influencia de las diferentes variables para la determinación del precio de este tipo de monedas, ya que es determinante en el análisis del valor que asignaremos a cada una de las piezas que iremos mostrando en las siguientes entradas, comenzando con el de los cinco ejemplares de 8 Reales de Carlos III, acuñados los dos primeros en Madrid (FIGURAS 125.1 y 125.2) y los tres restantes, en Sevilla (FIGURAS 125.3, 125.4 y 125.5).
La evolución de los precios de la moneda de busto de 8 Reales peninsulares acuñados en Madrid y Sevilla a nombre de: Carlos III, Carlos IV y Fernando VII, durante el periodo que va de 1762 a 1830, sigue un patrón bastante diferenciado del de la moneda macuquina y de la acuñada a rodillo (Ingenio) en las cecas de la metrópoli. Centrándonos, por el momento, en las piezas de busto de Carlos III de Madrid y Sevilla, éstas tienen un precio de mercado de unas 10.000P (60€ en 1965, estando reciente una importante subida que había tenido lugar de 1955 a 1965, al compás de la revaluación de los valores de todas las monedas en general, por el aumento substancial del numero de coleccionistas que se produce tanto en Europa como en América, con el comienzo de la época del desarrollo, pasadas las dificultades de la postguerra.
De 1965 a 1970, estas monedas experimentan una subida de 50%, pasando a valorarse en unos 15.000P en F (90€) en 1970, y desde esa fecha a 1975 vuelven a incrementar su precio en otro 50%, siguiendo un ritmo no muy distante de la inflación en el periodo, que duplicará el Índice de Precios al Consumo en España (IPC), de 1965 a 1975, periodo en el que los precios de estas monedas llegan a unas 25.000P en F (150€). A partir de ahí, en la misma forma que hemos expuesto en el caso  de los 8 Reales del Ingenio (y no en forma alguna, en el de las macuquinas) los precios de estas monedas se cuadruplican en cinco años, subiendo muy por encima del IPC, llegando a un valor de unas 100.000P en F (600€) en 1980, en un momento de importante inflación que provocó una masiva afluencia de inversores al mercado del coleccionismo de este tipo de monedas, las cuales por sus características mas fácilmente catalogables, parecían ofrecer una mayor seguridad de revalorización (especialmente, según decían los “expertos”, en altas conservaciones).
La realidad fue muy distinta. El efecto de la brusca bajada del precio de la plata (117P el gramo en enero de 1980 y 40P el gramo en 1985), la deserción de los coleccionistas de la adquisición de este tipo de monedas que habían quedado fuera de su alcance en un tiempo de fuerte crisis económica, y la salida al mercado de colecciones atraídas por los altos precios, y la comercialización simultanea de los inventarios de los grandes comerciantes mundiales del mercado de la moneda, provocó una estabilización de precios (en época de la importante inflación durante los 80) y un posterior descenso que ha dejado el nivel de las cotizaciones de los 8 Reales peninsulares de busto de Carlos III en unas 75.000P en F (450€) en 2012, como es fácil de constatar hojeando catálogos y listas de adjudicación en subastas.
Incluso la tan cacareada alta revalorización de estas piezas en un extraordinario grado de conservación, no fue mas que una quimera. Efectivamente, estas piezas en AU valen en 2012 mucho dinero, pero claro está que también en 1965, en 1975 o en 1985, lo valían; aproximadamente en las mismas proporciones que en la actualidad, respecto a los precios de los mismos ejemplares en una conservación inferior. Es por ello, de gran importancia, al haber constatado este hecho de forma empidica, procesando cientos de datos tomados de catálogos de subastas y listas de venta, verificar cuales son las elevaciones de precio de estas monedas, en el mercado actual, según el aumento de su grado de conservación.
Acabamos de basar nuestras estimaciones del aumento de precios de las piezas, producidas en el Ingenio de Segovia y, en general, el de todas las piezas fabricadas a molino o volante (no macuquinas) en la metrópoli, en la hipótesis basada en el análisis de los datos referidos, de que el precio de este último tipo de monedas se incrementa un 50% con el aumento de un grado, mientras que el de las monedas macuquinas lo hacía en un 100% por cambio de grado.
Pues bien, en el caso de las monedas de busto de Carlos III peninsulares, en especial en el de los 8 Reales, el aumento de su valoración con la conservación ha sido y es, mas rápido, pudiendo estimarse que el precio se duplica con cada incremento de grado, en la misma forma que hemos estudiado en el Volumen I (El Valor de los Sestercios) y el  Volumen II (El Valor de las Macuquinas) de nuestra serie sobre El Valor de las Monedas. Así, a partir de un precio base de una moneda de 8 Reales de busto de Carlos III de una fecha común (la mayoría) acuñada en Sevilla o Madrid, de 450€ en Fine (F) pude recorrerse toda la escala de conservaciones, desde un precio de 120€ en G hasta de 4.800€ en AU+.
La moneda que se muestra en la FIGURA 125.1 es un 8 Reales acuñado en Madrid a nombre de Carlos III en 1773 con los Ensayadores Juan Rodríguez Gutiérrez y Pedro Cano, representados por las letras P y J. La valoración de esta moneda en YRIARTE 1965 es de 120 dólares, muy semejante al de las del resto de Madrid de Carlos III.  Ya en 1970 CALBETÓ considerando a esta pieza como muy escasa (ee) aumenta substancialmente el valor de esta moneda, llegando a los 200$ en F (70P por $ en 1970 y 60P por $ en 1965). Los precios de CAYÓN y CALICÓ en sus sucesivas ediciones recogen la misma tendencia que hemos enunciado en los párrafos anteriores, en el sentido de señalar la estabilización del precio de estas piezas a partir de 1980.
Así CAYÓN indica un precio de 38.000P en 1975 y 100.000P tanto en 1980 como en 1998, siempre en, para nosotros, grado F. CALICÓ por su parte fija 70.000P en 1981, 75.000P en 1994 y 500€ en 2008, siempre en grado VF. VICENTI indica 18.000P en 1968 y 70.000P en 1978 registrando la fuerte subida experimentada por estas piezas desde 1975. PEIRO 2007 por su parte señala 450€ en MBC (F para nosotros) y 800€ en EBC (para nosotros VF+). Por último KRAUSE 2002 hace variar los precios de esta pieza entre 225$ en VG a 1.000$ en XF, pasando por 450$ en F y 775$ en V; nosotros creemos que es excesivamente débil su incremento desde los grados que van de VF a XF. Como muestra de la altísima valoración a que llegaron estas piezas en los 70, diremos que en la subasta de la colección de piezas peninsulares de 8 Reales de CALBETÓ, celebrada en Ginebra el 4 de diciembre de 1974, un ejemplar de esta fecha en VF, salió con un precio de 4.000FS (40P por 1FS en 1974).
La presente pieza se encuentra en un grado VF ya que muestra solo desgaste en las partes mas altas del relieve, tanto en la cabeza del león del segundo cartel del escudo del reverso como en la parte final de la coleta de Carlos III y en las líneas del pelo del borde derecho de la peluca, en el anverso. Tal como hemos adelantado el valor de esta pieza en VF sería de 900€. En este caso, la limpieza de la pieza y el golpecito que presenta en la parte izquierda del anverso, reducen su precio de mercado en un 15% aproximadamente, quedando en 750€.

FIGURA 125.1


La pieza fotografiada en la FIGURA 125.2 es exactamente el mismo tipo y la misma fecha que la de la anterior, variando únicamente en ella el grado de conservación que en este caso no llega a VF, debiéndose quedar en el grado F+ ya que el gastaje está generalizado al resto de la pieza y, en las partes mas altas, que ya habíamos señalado para la pieza anterior, las huellas del desgaste son algo mas extensas que en el caso de la moneda anterior. El valor de esta pieza y su precio de marcado es el de las mas comunes de Carlos III tanto de Madrid como de Sevilla: 700€ en F+ (600€ en F+).
Las piezas conocidas de Madrid de Carlos II con busto están acuñadas en los años: 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1777, 1778, 1782 y 1788. Las fechas mas difíciles de encontrar son el 1775 que viene a tener un valor doble del de las demás, y el 1778 que es Muy Rara con un valor que puede alcanzar el de cuatro veces el de las del resto. Las piezas  de Madrid en los años 70 eran menos valoradas que las de Sevilla, pero el hallazgo de numerosos ejemplares de Sevilla (normalmente con ciertas corrosiones limpiadas) al final de los 70, hizo que la tendencia se invirtiera. Actualmente creemos que el precio de los ejemplares comunes de ambas cecas es prácticamente similar.

FIGURA 125.2


La pieza de la FIGURA 125.3 es un 8 Reales acuñado en Sevilla a nombre de Carlos III en 1773 con los Ensayadores Carlos Jiménez y Francisco Lopez representados por las letras C y F  a la derecha del escudo del reverso. Este ejemplar presenta en su anverso el tipo de corrosión al que nos hemos referido en el párrafo anterior, correspondiendo a las características de los ejemplares recuperados con oxidaciones, pertenecientes todos ellos a la Ceca de Sevilla. La valoración en YRIARTE 1975  y en CALBETÓ 1970 de esta pieza es algo superior a la de los ejemplares de Madrid: 130$ en el caso del primero y 175$ en el caso del segundo que la considera como Muy Rara (rr).

FIGURA 125.3


CAYÓN valora estas piezas de Sevilla aproximadamente un 20% por debajo de las de Madrid, con 27.000P en 1975 y 80.000P en 1980 y 1998. CALICÓ opera en forma similar señalando 65.000P en 1981, bajando en 1994 hasta 55.000P y llegando finalmente a 500€ en 2008; VICENTI 1968 valora esta pieza en 20.000P con un precio superior al de las de Madrid, mientras que en 1978 ya señala un precio inferior, 60.000P frente a las 70.000P, al de las piezas de Madrid. PEIRO 2007, por su parte, asigna también precios inferiores a las monedas de este tipo de Sevilla frente a las de Madrid: 350€ en MBC (F) y 600€ en EBC (VF+). KRAUSE 2002 actúa en la misma forma pasando de un precio de 200$ en VG a 400$ en F, 550$ en VF y 800$ en XF. Nuevamente el precio de esta fecha de Sevilla en la subasta de la colección CALBETÓ, referida anteriormente, revela su alta valoración en 1974, con un precio de salida de 2.000FS.
La conservación de esta pieza es, en principio, muy buena, llegando a XF-, ya que los aparentes desgastes en los leones del reverso no son sino debidos a falta de presión de acuñación, mientras que en el anverso son prácticamente distinguibles todas la líneas de la peluca, excluyendo las del último bucle de la coleta que prácticamente nunca se encuentra completa. En esta conservación el valor de la moneda sería de 1.500€ (900€ en VF y 1.800€ en XF). No obstante, las oxidaciones limpiadas en el anverso, reducen su precio de mercado prácticamente a la mitad: 750€.

FIGURA 125.4


La moneda de la fotografía reproducida en la FIGURA 125.4 es un 8 Reales de Carlos III acuñado en Sevilla en 1776 con los Ensayadores Carlos Jiménez (C) y Francisco Lopez (F). Algunas fechas de Sevilla, y en particular las de 1776 aparecen con frecuencia acuñadas en dos tipos de cospel: uno con módulo algo mas grande (el presente ejemplar) y otro algo mas pequeño (como el que aparece en la FIGURA siguiente. Sus valoraciones no son muy diferentes. Las valoraciones de esta pieza de 1776 por parte de los diferentes autores es muy similar a la de la fecha anterior. Su conservación es algo inferior, VF+, por lo que su valor sería de 1.200€, mientras que su precio de mercado, por la presencia de oxidaciones, llegaría solamente a la mitad de este valor: 600€.

FIGURA 125.5


Por último la pieza de la FIGURA 125.5 es exactamente del mismo tipo y año que el de la anterior. En este caso, su grado es VF por lo que su valor es de 900€, llegando hasta un precio de mercado de 1.000€ por su pátina, que elevaría un 10% su valor.

 THE VALUATION PER CONSERVATION OF THE PENINSULAR 8 REAL OF BUST OF CHARLES III

The Pragmatic of May the 29th, 1772 of Charles III is one of the four Royal provision that have had a greater and more prolonged influence on the monetary regulation carried out by the Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons. The others are: the Order of 1566 of Philip II that changed the Spanish coin design changing the one of the time of the Catholic monarchs, that is had been used also by Charles I, introducing the imperial shield the Habsburgs in the front of the coin, the Pragmatic of 1686 of Charles II, which added new types, the Marias, with a reduced weight by 20%, keeping the same denominations, and the Ordinance of 1728 by Philip V by which was ordering the collection of the previous cob currency and an issue of new types with the shield of the House of Bourbon in the peninsular mints, and the so-called columnarios in the American mints, but modifying with not a very drastic way, the characteristics of weight and assay value of the coins carved out in the metropolis and overseas.
The Pragmatics of 1772 will have a long term prolonging its effects until the complete emancipation of the American colonies in 1825, after the battle of Ayacucho and in the metropolis, until the end of the reign of Ferdinand VII. In later posts, we will analyse the technical aspects of this provision, as well as its impact on the Spanish monetary policy of the time. For the moment, it is enough to say that the types of: Castile and León arms in the front and the shield of the monarchy in the back, which were being minted for more than two centuries, give way to the so-called bust coins, with printed cord to tack in the edge, with the representation of the torso of the monarch on the front, surrounded with the inscription: CAROLUS III. DEI.G. on the front, which also contains the date in its lower part, and the shield of Spain (or, properly, of Castile) crowned with rounded contours and alternating quarters with castles and lions, surrounded by the inscription HISPANIARVM REX (King of the Spains) that expressed in Spanish included also in coins of Elizabeth II until the introduction of the peseta in 1868.
What is already indispensable for us in the present post is to analyse the influence of the different variables to determine the price of this type of coins, which is determinant in the analysis of the value that we assign to each one of the coins that we will be showing in the following posts, starting with the five copies of 8 real of Charles III minted the first two in Madrid (figures 125.1 and 125.2) and the remaining three, in Seville (figures 125.3, 125.4 and 125.5).
The evolution of the prices of the bust currency of peninsular 8 real minted in Madrid and Seville in the name of: Charles III, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, during the period from 1762 to 1830, follows a quite distinct pattern of the cob currency and the roller coined one (Ingenio) in the Mints of the metropolis. Focusing, for the time, on the bust coins of Charles III of Madrid and Seville, they have a market price of about 10,000 pesetas (€60 in 1965, while recent significant rise that took place from 1955 to 1965, in time to the revaluation of the values of all coins in general, by the substantial increase in the number of collectors that is produced both in Europe and in America) with the beginning of the era of development, finished the difficulties of the post-war.
From 1965 to 1970, these currencies experienced a rise of 50%, turning to be evaluated approximately in 15,000 pesetas in F (€90) in 1970, and from that date to 1975 return to increase its price in another 50%, following a not very distant rhythm of the inflation rate in the period, which will double the Price Index for the Consumption in Spain (PIC) from 1965 to 1975, period in which the prices of these coins reach about 25,000 pesetas in F (€150). From there, in the same way that we have outlined for the 8 real of the Ingenio (and in any way in the cob coins one) the prices of these coins were multiplied by four in five years, rising well above the PIC, reaching a value of about 100,000 pesetas in F (€600) in 1980, at a time of important inflation causing a massive influx of investors to the market of this type of coin collecting, for its characteristics more easily classifiable, seemed to offer greater security of revaluation (especially, said the "experts" in high conservations).
The reality was very different. The effect of the sudden decrease in the price of silver (117 pesetas for one gram in January 1980 and 40 pesetas for one gram in 1985), the defection of the collectors of the acquisition of this type of coins that had been outside its goal in a time of deep economic crisis, and the exit on the market of collections attracted by high prices, and simultaneous marketing of inventories of large global traders in the currency market provoked a stabilization of prices (at time of the important inflation during the 1980s) and a subsequent decline which has left the level of the values of the peninsular 8 real of bust of Charles III in some 75,000 pesetas in F (€450) in 2012, as it is easy to see leafing catalogues and lists of sale in auctions.
Even the vaunted high revaluation of these coins in an extraordinary grade of conservation, was not more than a chimera. Indeed, these coins in AU are worth lot of money in 2012, but it is clear that also in 1965, in 1975 or in 1985, so they used to be; approximately in the same proportions than nowadays, regarding with the prices of the same copies in a lower maintenance. It is therefore of great importance to have noted this fact in an empiric way, processing hundreds of data taken from catalogues of auctions and sale lists, verifying which are the elevations of price of these currencies, in the current market, according to the increase in the grade of conservation.
We just base our estimations of the increase in prices of the coins produced in the Ingenio of Segovia and, in general, of all the coins made with mill or steering wheel (not cob coins) in the metropolis, in the hypothesis based on the analysis of the referral data, that the price of this last type of coins increases of 50% with the increase of the grade, while the one of the cob coins made it on a 100% of a change of grade.
Well, in the case of the peninsular bust coins of Charles III, especially in the one of 8 real coins, the increase in its valuation with the conservation has been and it is, more quickly, and it can be estimated that the price is doubled with each increase in level, in the same way that we have studied in the Volume I (The Value of the Sesterces) and in the Volume II (The Value of the Cob Currency) of our series about The value of the Coins. Thus, from a base price of a currency of 8 real of bust of Charles III of a common date (most of them) coined in Seville or Madrid, of €450 in Fine (F) could go over all the level of conservations, from a price of €120 in G to €4,800 in AU+.
The currency shown in the figure 125.1 is a 8 real coined in Madrid in the name of Charles III in 1773 with the Assayers Juan Rodríguez Gutiérrez and Pedro Cano, represented by the letters P and J. The value of this currency in Yriarte 1965 is $120, very similar to the ones of the rest of Charles III of Madrid. Already in 1970, Calbetó considering this coin as very scarce (ee) substantially increases the value of this currency, reaching $200 in F (70 pesetas per dollar in 1970 and 60 pesetas per dollar in 1965). The prices of Cayón and Calicó in their successive editions reflected the same trend that we have set out in the paragraphs before, in the sense of pointing out the stabilization of the price of these coins since 1980.
Thus Cayón indicates a price of 38,000 pesetas in 1975 and 100,000 pesetas both in 1980 than in 1998, always, for us, in F grade. Calicó for his part sets to 70,000 pesetas in 1981, 75,000 pesetas in 1994 and €500 in 2008, always in VF grade. Vicenti indicates 18,000 pesetas in 1968 and 70,000 pesetas in 1978 recorded the strong increase experienced by these coins since 1975. Peiro 2007 for his part values to €450 in MBC (F for us) and €800 in EBC (for us VF). Finally Krause 2002 does vary the prices of this coin between $225 in VG to $1,000 in XF, passing from $450 in F and $775 in V; we believe that this increase is excessively weak for grades ranging from VF to XF. As a sign of the high valuation reached by these coins in the 1970s, we would say that in the auction of the collection of peninsular coins of 8 real of Calbetó, held in Geneva on December the 4th, 1974, a copy of this date in VF, came out with a price of 4,000FS (40 pesetas for 1FS in 1974).
This coin is in a VF grade since it shows wear only the higher parts of the relief, as well as in the head of the lion of the second quadrant of the shield of the back as in the bottom of the ponytail of Charles III and in the lines of hair of the right edge of the wig in the front. As we advance the value of this coin in VF would be €900. In this case, the cleaning of the coin and the tap shown in the left side of the front, reduce its market price of approximately 15% running to €750.
The coin photographed in the figure 125.2 is exactly the same type and the same date as the previous, only varying in the grade of conservation in this case does not reaching VF, should stay in the F+ grade because the wear is generalized to the rest of the coin and, in higher parts, which we already had pointed out to the previous coin, the marks of wear are something more extensive than the previous currency. The value of this coin and its market price is the one of the more common Charles III both in Madrid and Seville: €700 in F+ (€600 in F+).
The known coins of Madrid of Charles II with bust are minted in the years: 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1777, 1778, 1782 and 1788. The more difficult dates to find are the 1775 which have a double value of the others, and the 1778 which is very rare with a value that can reach four times of the rest. The coins of Madrid in the 70s were less valued than the ones of Seville, but the discovery of numerous copies of Seville (usually with certain cleaned corrosions) at the end of the 70s, made the trend to invert. We currently believe that the price of common copies of both mints is almost similar.
The coin of the figure 125.3 is a 8 real coined in Seville in the name of Charles III in 1773 with the Assayers Carlos Jiménez and Francisco Lopez represented by the letters C and F to the right of the shield of the back. This copy presents on its front the type of corrosion to which we referred in the previous paragraph, corresponding to the characteristics of the recovered copies with oxidations, all of them belonging to the Mint of Seville. The value in Yriarte 1975 and in Calbetó 1970 of this coin is somewhat higher than the copies of Madrid: in the case of the first $130 and $175 for the second which is considered as very rare (rr).
Cayón values these coins of Seville approximately a 20% below the ones of Madrid, with 27,000 pesetas in 1975 and 80,000 pesetas in 1980 and 1998. Calicó operates similarly noting 65,000 pesetas in 1981, falling in 1994 to 55,000 pesetas and finally reaching €500 in 2008; Vicenti 1968 appreciated this coin to 20,000 pesetas with a higher price than the Madrid ones, while in 1978 he points out a lower price, 60,000 pesetas against the 70,000 pesetas, for the parts of Madrid. Peiro 2007, for his part, also assigns lower prices to the coins of this type in Seville against the Madrid ones: €350 in MBC (F) and €600 in EBC (VF+). Krause 2002 acts in the same way from a price of $200 in VG to $400 in F, $550 in VF and $800 in XF. Again the price of this date of Seville in the auction of the Calbetó collection, referred above, reveals its high value in 1974, with a starting price of 2,000FS.
The conservation of this coin is, in principle, very good, reaching to XF-, since the apparent wear in the lions of the back are not but due to the lack of pressure of coinage, while in the front all the lines of the wig are practically distinguishable, excluding those of the last ringlet of the ponytail that is almost never complete. In this conservation the value of the currency would be €1,500 (€900 in VF and €1,800 in XF). However, the oxidation cleaned on the front, halved practically its market price: €750.
The currency of the photograph reproduced in the figure 125.4 is a 8 real of Charles III coined in Seville in 1776 with the Assayers Carlos Jiménez (C) and Francisco Lopez (F). Some dates of Seville, and in particular those of 1776 appear frequently minted in two types of tokens: one diameter something larger (this copy) and another smaller (such as the one that appears in the figure below). Their values are not very different. The valuations of this coin of 1776 by different authors are very similar to the earlier date. Its conservation is something lower, VF+, so its value would be €1,200, while its market price, by the presence of oxidations, would only reach half of this value: €600.
Finally the coin of the figure 125.5 is exactly of the same type and year than the previous one. In this case, its grade is VF so its value is €900, reaching a market price of €1,000 for its patina, that would raise a 10% its value.

 

THE VALUATION PER CONSERVATION OF THE PENINSULAR 8 REAL OF BUST OF CHARLES III

 

The Pragmatic of May the 29th, 1772 of Charles III is one of the four Royal provision that have had a greater

 and more prolonged influence on the monetary regulation carried out by the Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons. The others are: the Order of 1566 of Philip II that changed the Spanish coin design changing the one of the time of the Catholic monarchs, that is had been used also by Charles I, introducing the imperial shield the Habsburgs in the front of the coin, the Pragmatic of 1686 of Charles II, which added new types, the Marias, with a reduced weight by 20%, keeping the same denominations, and the Ordinance of 1728 by Philip V by which was ordering the collection of the previous cob currency and an issue of new types with the shield of the House of Bourbon in the peninsular mints, and the so-called columnarios in the American mints, but modifying with not a very drastic way, the characteristics of weight and assay value of the coins carved out in the metropolis and overseas.

The Pragmatics of 1772 will have a long term prolonging its effects until the complete emancipation of the American colonies in 1825, after the battle of Ayacucho and in the metropolis, until the end of the reign of Ferdinand VII. In later posts, we will analyse the technical aspects of this provision, as well as its impact on the Spanish monetary policy of the time. For the moment, it is enough to say that the types of: Castile and León arms in the front and the shield of the monarchy in the back, which were being minted for more than two centuries, give way to the so-called bust coins, with printed cord to tack in the edge, with the representation of the torso of the monarch on the front, surrounded with the inscription: CAROLUS III. DEI.G. on the front, which also contains the date in its lower part, and the shield of Spain (or, properly, of Castile) crowned with rounded contours and alternating quarters with castles and lions, surrounded by the inscription HISPANIARVM REX (King of the Spains) that expressed in Spanish included also in coins of Elizabeth II until the introduction of the peseta in 1868.

What is already indispensable for us in the present post is to analyse the influence of the different variables to determine the price of this type of coins, which is determinant in the analysis of the value that we assign to each one of the coins that we will be showing in the following posts, starting with the five copies of 8 real of Charles III minted the first two in Madrid (figures 125.1 and 125.2) and the remaining three, in Seville (figures 125.3, 125.4 and 125.5).

The evolution of the prices of the bust currency of peninsular 8 real minted in Madrid and Seville in the name of: Charles III, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, during the period from 1762 to 1830, follows a quite distinct pattern of the cob currency and the roller coined one (Ingenio) in the Mints of the metropolis. Focusing, for the time, on the bust coins of Charles III of Madrid and Seville, they have a market price of about 10,000 pesetas (€60 in 1965, while recent significant rise that took place from 1955 to 1965, in time to the revaluation of the values of all coins in general, by the substantial increase in the number of collectors that is produced both in Europe and in America) with the beginning of the era of development, finished the difficulties of the post-war.

From 1965 to 1970, these currencies experienced a rise of 50%, turning to be evaluated approximately in 15,000 pesetas in F (€90) in 1970, and from that date to 1975 return to increase its price in another 50%, following a not very distant rhythm of the inflation rate in the period, which will double the Price Index for the Consumption in Spain (PIC) from 1965 to 1975, period in which the prices of these coins reach about 25,000 pesetas in F (€150). From there, in the same way that we have outlined for the 8 real of the Ingenio (and in any way in the cob coins one) the prices of these coins were multiplied by four in five years, rising well above the PIC, reaching a value of about 100,000 pesetas in F (€600) in 1980, at a time of important inflation causing a massive influx of investors to the market of this type of coin collecting, for its characteristics more easily classifiable, seemed to offer greater security of revaluation (especially, said the "experts" in high conservations).

The reality was very different. The effect of the sudden decrease in the price of silver (117 pesetas for one gram in January 1980 and 40 pesetas for one gram in 1985), the defection of the collectors of the acquisition of this type of coins that had been outside its goal in a time of deep economic crisis, and the exit on the market of collections attracted by high prices, and simultaneous marketing of inventories of large global traders in the currency market provoked a stabilization of prices (at time of the important inflation during the 1980s) and a subsequent decline which has left the level of the values of the peninsular 8 real of bust of Charles III in some 75,000 pesetas in F (€450) in 2012, as it is easy to see leafing catalogues and lists of sale in auctions.

Even the vaunted high revaluation of these coins in an extraordinary grade of conservation, was not more than a chimera. Indeed, these coins in AU are worth lot of money in 2012, but it is clear that also in 1965, in 1975 or in 1985, so they used to be; approximately in the same proportions than nowadays, regarding with the prices of the same copies in a lower maintenance. It is therefore of great importance to have noted this fact in an empiric way, processing hundreds of data taken from catalogues of auctions and sale lists, verifying which are the elevations of price of these currencies, in the current market, according to the increase in the grade of conservation.

We just base our estimations of the increase in prices of the coins produced in the Ingenio of Segovia and, in general, of all the coins made with mill or steering wheel (not cob coins) in the metropolis, in the hypothesis based on the analysis of the referral data, that the price of this last type of coins increases of 50% with the increase of the grade, while the one of the cob coins made it on a 100% of a change of grade.

Well, in the case of the peninsular bust coins of Charles III, especially in the one of 8 real coins, the increase in its valuation with the conservation has been and it is, more quickly, and it can be estimated that the price is doubled with each increase in level, in the same way that we have studied in the Volume I (The Value of the Sesterces) and in the Volume II (The Value of the Cob Currency) of our series about The value of the Coins. Thus, from a base price of a currency of 8 real of bust of Charles III of a common date (most of them) coined in Seville or Madrid, of €450 in Fine (F) could go over all the level of conservations, from a price of €120 in G to €4,800 in AU+.

The currency shown in the figure 125.1 is a 8 real coined in Madrid in the name of Charles III in 1773 with the Assayers Juan Rodríguez Gutiérrez and Pedro Cano, represented by the letters P and J. The value of this currency in Yriarte 1965 is $120, very similar to the ones of the rest of Charles III of Madrid. Already in 1970, Calbetó considering this coin as very scarce (ee) substantially increases the value of this currency, reaching $200 in F (70 pesetas per dollar in 1970 and 60 pesetas per dollar in 1965). The prices of Cayón and Calicó in their successive editions reflected the same trend that we have set out in the paragraphs before, in the sense of pointing out the stabilization of the price of these coins since 1980.

Thus Cayón indicates a price of 38,000 pesetas in 1975 and 100,000 pesetas both in 1980 than in 1998, always, for us, in F grade. Calicó for his part sets to 70,000 pesetas in 1981, 75,000 pesetas in 1994 and €500 in 2008, always in VF grade. Vicenti indicates 18,000 pesetas in 1968 and 70,000 pesetas in 1978 recorded the strong increase experienced by these coins since 1975. Peiro 2007 for his part values to €450 in MBC (F for us) and €800 in EBC (for us VF). Finally Krause 2002 does vary the prices of this coin between $225 in VG to $1,000 in XF, passing from $450 in F and $775 in V; we believe that this increase is excessively weak for grades ranging from VF to XF. As a sign of the high valuation reached by these coins in the 1970s, we would say that in the auction of the collection of peninsular coins of 8 real of Calbetó, held in Geneva on December the 4th, 1974, a copy of this date in VF, came out with a price of 4,000FS (40

 pesetas for 1FS in 1974).

This coin is in a VF grade since it shows wear only the higher parts of the relief, as well as in the head of the lion of the second quadrant of the shield of the back as in the bottom of the ponytail of Charles III and in the lines of hair of the right edge of the wig in the front. As we advance the value of this coin in VF would be €900. In this case, the cleaning of the coin and the tap shown in the left side of the front, reduce its market price of approximately 15% running to €750.

The coin photographed in the figure 125.2 is exactly the same type and the same date as the previous, only varying in the grade of conservation in this case does not reaching VF, should stay in the F+ grade because the wear is generalized to the rest of the coin and, in higher parts, which we already had pointed out to the previous coin, the marks of wear are something more extensive than the previous currency. The value of this coin and its market price is the one of the more common Charles III both in Madrid and Seville: €700 in F+ (€600 in F+).

The known coins of Madrid of Charles II with bust are minted in the years: 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1777, 1778, 1782 and 1788. The more difficult dates to find are the 1775 which have a double value of the others, and the 1778 which is very rare with a value that can reach four times of the rest. The coins of Madrid in the 70s were less valued than the ones of Seville, but the discovery of numerous copies of Seville (usually with certain cleaned corrosions) at the end of the 70s, made the trend to invert. We currently believe that the price of common copies of both mints is almost similar.

The coin of the figure 125.3 is a 8 real coined in Seville in the name of Charles III in 1773 with the Assayers Carlos Jiménez and Francisco Lopez represented by the letters C and F to the right of the shield of the back. This copy presents on its front the type of corrosion to which we referred in the previous paragraph, corresponding to the characteristics of the recovered copies with oxidations, all of them belonging to the Mint of Seville. The value in Yriarte 1975 and in Calbetó 1970 of this coin is somewhat higher than the copies of Madrid: in the case of the first $130 and $175 for the second which is considered as very rare (rr).

Cayón values these coins of Seville approximately a 20% below the ones of Madrid, with 27,000 pesetas in 1975 and 80,000 pesetas in 1980 and 1998. Calicó operates similarly noting 65,000 pesetas in 1981, falling in 1994 to 55,000 pesetas and finally reaching €500 in 2008; Vicenti 1968 appreciated this coin to 20,000 pesetas with a higher price than the Madrid ones, while in 1978 he points out a lower price, 60,000 pesetas against the 70,000 pesetas, for the parts of Madrid. Peiro 2007, for his part, also assigns lower prices to the coins of this type in Seville against the Madrid ones: €350 in MBC (F) and €600 in EBC (VF+). Krause 2002 acts in the same way from a price of $200 in VG to $400 in F, $550 in VF and $800 in XF. Again the price of this date of Seville in the auction of the Calbetó collection, referred above, reveals its high value in 1974, with a starting price of 2,000FS.

The conservation of this coin is, in principle, very good, reaching to XF-, since the apparent wear in the lions of the back are not but due to the lack of pressure of coinage, while in the front all the lines of the wig are practically distinguishable, excluding those of the last ringlet of the ponytail that is almost never complete. In this conservation the value of the currency would be €1,500 (€900 in VF and €1,800 in XF). However, the oxidation cleaned on the front, halved practically its market price: €750.

The currency of the photograph reproduced in the figure 125.4 is a 8 real of Charles III coined in Seville in 1776 with the Assayers Carlos Jiménez (C) and Francisco Lopez (F). Some dates of Seville, and in particular those of 1776 appear frequently minted in two types of tokens: one diameter something larger (this copy) and another smaller (such as the one that appears in the figure below). Their values are not very different. The valuations of this coin of 1776 by different authors are very similar to the earlier date. Its conservation is something lower, VF+, so its value would be €1,200, while its market price, by the presence of oxidations, would only reach half of this value: €600.

Finally the coin of the figure 125.5 is exactly of the same type and year than the previous one. In this case, its grade is VF so its value is €900, reaching a market price of €1,000 for its patina, that would raise a 10% its value.

 

Ultima modificacion el Martes 11 de Febrero de 2014 11:11
Ernesto Gutiérrez Guinea

Ernesto Gutiérrez Guinea

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