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2 Reales Type I Countermark
| Issuer | Republic of Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841-1842 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled, Countermarked, Cut |
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| Obverse description | Host coin obverse of a Spanish colonial 2 Reales struck at the Potosí Mint in 1775, featuring the armored laureate bust of King Carlos III facing right, with the legend CAROLUS III DEI GRATIA surrounding the periphery and the date 1775 in the lower exergue. The coin has been cut and pierced with a large round hole at the right of center, partially obscuring the royal portrait. Prominently applied left of center is the Costa Rican Type I countermark, a small circular punch depicting a five-petaled flower (rose) with radiating sunburst surround, validating the host coin for circulation as a 2 Reales within the Republic of Costa Rica. The milled border remains largely intact around the circumference. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Milled |
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| Additional information |
Costa Rica's early republican coinage was chronically undersupplied, and the government's solution was to countermark Spanish colonial 2 reales hosts — primarily Guatemalan and Mexican cobs and milled coinage — to legitimize them for domestic circulation. The Type I punch, applied at San José between 1841 and 1842, is distinct from the later Type II and is known to appear on a notably wider range of host coins, making die attribution genuinely difficult without examining the host itself.