Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
11/2 Réis - Pedro V Countermark 'Small Crown' over 1 1/2 Real, Portugal/João IV
| Issuer | São Tomé and Príncipe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Gomes#P5 01 |
| Obverse description | Host coin of João IV (Portugal) type displaying the denomination '1 1/2' in the central field, surrounded by a beaded border with decorative floral and pellet ornaments. Applied prominently to the upper-left field is the Pedro V 'small crown' countermark of 1854, consisting of a neatly struck crowned motif punched into the coin's surface to validate its circulation in São Tomé and Príncipe. The original legends of the host coin are partially visible around the periphery in worn Latin lettering. The overall surface is heavily worn, consistent with prolonged circulation prior to countermarking. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse of the host João IV 1 1/2 Real depicting the Portuguese royal arms: the crowned shield of Portugal bearing five escutcheons arranged in a cross pattern, each charged with five roundels, set within a decorative cartouche. The shield is surmounted by a royal crown rendered in moderate relief. A circular Latin legend runs around the periphery, partially legible due to wear. The overall design is characteristic of mid-17th-century Portuguese colonial copper coinage, struck in a hammered style with irregular flan. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Portugal's Atlantic island colonies regularly ran short of small change, and rather than ship freshly minted coin from Lisbon, the standard remedy was to countermark whatever copper happened to be available locally. This piece began life as a João IV 1½ Real — a seventeenth-century Portuguese colonial issue — and was officially revalidated for circulation in São Tomé and Príncipe under Pedro V's 1854 countermarking program, effectively giving a coin that was already two centuries old a second legal existence.
The small crown punch distinguishes this emission from related countermark types in the Gomes reference, and correct attribution hinges entirely on the host coin beneath it.