1810 HJ 8
Reales
Ferdinand VII
In
1810 there were two types of 8 Reales issued by the Mexico City Mint, both
issued under Ferdinand VII. They were the 1810 TH and the 1810 HJ.
The
practice at the mint was to identify the assayers by placing the senior
assayer’s initial first when going around the coin clockwise, using the initial
of what we call “the first name” in the United States of America. “Senior”
refers to the assayer hired first at the mint.
The
years 1809 and 1810 were special cases where 3 first class assayers were
employed at the Mexico City Mint at the same time. Tomas Butron Miranda (T) was
an assayer from 1801 into 1810, Henrique Buenaventura Azorin (H) from 1803 into
1814, and Joaquin Davila Madrid (J) was an assayer from 1809 into 1833.
At
the larger Colonial Mints when more than 2 first class assayers were employed,
the third would normally be assigned to such duties as making retail purchases
and assisting the comptroller with the calculations related to alloys.
The
1809 and 1810 8 Reales produced at the Mexico City Mint appear to create an
anomaly that needs further explaining.
How
can the assayers TH and then HJ be on coins minted in 1809, which indicates a
normal progression of assayers indicating (T) left and (J) was hired, then
followed by coins the next year in 1810 have assayers TH again? Did Tomas Butron Miranda (T) leave the Mint
as indicated by 1810 TH in 1810? If so,
what were his duties after they hired Joquin David Madrid (J) in 1809?
The
bigger story during this time period was the abdication of Carolus IIII on
March 19, 1808. Carolus turned the
throne over to his oldest living son, Ferdinand VII, who then became King of
Spain on that date. (Four of Ferdinand’s older brothers had died when young
children).
Napoleon
Bonaparte had a large standing army in Spain at that time, and distrusted
Ferdinand VII. Napoleon was able to get Carolus IIII to retract his abdication
of March 19 and abdicate instead to Napoleon Bonaparte on May 5. Ferdinand VII was forced to abdicate (turn
the throne back over to his father) on May 6.
Since Carolus had abdicated to Napoleon the previous day, Napoleon held
the throne, who turned it over to his older brother Joseph, who became King
Joseph I of Spain on June 6, 1808. On August
11 the abdications of Carolus to Napoleon and Ferdinand to Carolus were
declared null and void. On August 24,
Ferdinand was proclaimed King of Spain again.
On January 14, 1809, the British Government acknowledged Ferdinand VII
as King of Spain. Emperor Napoleon
agreed to acknowledge Ferdinand King of Spain on December 11, 1813, at which
time he turned the throne back over to Ferdinand VII, who again became King of
Spain from December 11, 1813 until his death on September 29, 1833. During this
period from 1808-13, Spain’s central government recognized Joseph as King, but
the citizens of Spain did not.
For
the Reales minted during this time, dies from Spain were not sent to the
Colonial Mints in 1808 after Ferdinand VII became King. At the Mexico City
Mint, the Ferdinand VII Armored Bust series was used during the period 1808-11
where a made-up or imaginary portrait of Ferdinand VII was used since they did
not know what he looked like. The mints at Lima, Peru and Santiago, Chile made
their own different versions of Ferdinand VII’s portrait during this time
period. At the Mexico City Mint,
official versions of Ferdinand VII’s portrait started in 1811 with the Draped
Bust series.
Mexico
City 8 Reales from 1791 issued under Carolus IIII through the armored bust
series ending in 1811 issued under Ferdinand VII were 89.6% pure silver.
NGC
grades this coin as an UNC details, meaning the coin is uncirculated, and has
been cleaned. There is a planchet flaw on the obverse in the field in front of
TIA.
Photography:
The
physical appearance of a coin will differ depending on the type and intensity
of the light under which we view the coin.
I use a 100 watt incandescent light bulb at a distance of about 1 foot.
Sales Information
DOMESTIC SALES - FREE SHIPPING.
Tracking Numbers: I will post a tracking
number after I ship to you.
INTERNATIONAL SALES
I am now currently making international
sales.
As I understand it, if you can see my listing,
you can buy it from outside the USA. My shipping it to Kentucky is free
to you. The part about getting your coin from Kentucky to you has all
been worked out by Global Shipping. Supposedly, you can see your mailing
costs, etc.
Payment
I
would appreciate your paying me in a timely fashion after the close of the
sale.
Other Information
My shipment to you: The 8th largest
city in the USA no longer has a Post Office open after 5:00PM Monday
through Friday. My mail route is “a training route” so I no longer have any
idea who is going to be delivering my mail, or at what time of day. I am
not going to leave a $50-$500 coin outside to be picked up by “whomever”.
Given all of this, if you win and pay for a coin this morning, it probably
won’t be put in the mail this afternoon. They are taken to the Post
Office to be mailed.
Returns: This is a collector coin and not just
some chunk of silver bullion. If you do not feel that this coin is “right
for you” after you have examined it, send an email letting me know it is coming
back to me. Return shipping cost is at the buyer’s expense. Return
it at your convenience, preferably within 14 days. The shipping to you is at my
expense for domestic shipping.
This
is an old collector’s coin, and you and I both know, as coin collectors,
sometimes a coin that looks good from photos does not measure up to our
expectations. After you have looked at it, if you decide that it is “not
for you”, just let me know that you will be sending it back so that I will know
to expect it. I have other old 8 Reales. If for some reason you
don’t feel satisfied with this coin, that doesn’t mean you won’t be happy with
the next one you win.
Please
read everything I have stated to you about this coin, if I have made any
specific comments about it. If there is something of interest to you
about the coin that I did not explain to you in this listing, send an
email.
I want you to be satisfied
with what you get.
I want to build a positive
business relationship with you, not just “get a sale”.