(05a) Mexican Numismatic Profiles: Volume 1 Issue 1: Last Revision: 04/18/04
The Great Collectors:
While far better known for their fabulous U.S. collections, Henry and Emery May Norweb and their Mexican coins are one of the greatest stories of Mexican Numismatics! The Norweb pedigree on any Mexican coin places that coin on the highest rung of the collecting ladder, making it a highly treasured and priced specimen by any and all Mexican period coin collectors who have more than a basic understanding of this collection.
Let’s begin by saying one thing, if you are a Mexican coin collector the Norweb auction catalogs are a must have for your reference library. Coins are pictured in both early catalogs that you may never see again during your lifetime, so it is important to obtain them, no matter the cost.
The Norwebs both came from numismatic families, these families passed on not only the collector’s genes but also nice collections that would form the base collections of both Henry and Emery May. I never had the privilege of knowing either of the Norwebs, but many that did, said the Latin sections of their collections were the home turf of the lady of the house. If so, this lady had a great eye for quality and rarity, for many of her Mexican coins rank as the Finest Known and she had many extremely rare coins from all Mexican Epochs.
Even more amazing today is the vast depth of Norweb’s Latin collection, not just the Mexican coinage. There were good representative examples from most Latin American countries, large collections from Brazil, Peru, England and of course their American coins, but let’s forget the others today and concentrate only on the coins from Mexico.
The first Norweb (May 1985) sale contained New World Latin American coins but the Mexican Colonial coinage was unquestionably the cream-da-la-cream of the sale! The entire spectrum of Colonial Mexico was well represented in this sale, from minor silver to shockingly beautiful gold Doubloons from all Colonial periods. As examples- Lot#1, a wonderful Philip Royal 8 Escudos, Lot #153a, an undated C & J 3 Reales, to Lot 233 a Mo 1757 MM 4 Reales of unmatched quality and rarity by any measurement. Another monster coin looms in Lot #190 a Mo 1732 __ 4 Reales Pillar with no assayer that is unrivaled today. And these are only a sampling of the great Colonials that appeared in this section of the vast Norweb holdings.
The second Norweb sale in November 1985, contained not only many of the finest, but also one of the largest groups of Republican gold coins ever sold. This sale offered over 500 lots of Mexican coins and had something for almost every collector- be they gold, silver, copper or pattern collectors. I attended this sale and was rather disappointed with the Republic 8 Reales represented there. It would be many years before I found out that the vast majority of the Norweb 8 Reales were dispersed in several other sales I knew nothing about. However, the silver coins I purchased that night still rank very high in my collection today and by the other collectors that have purchased a few of these coins from me.
The main thrust of the second sale was the Republican gold in both the Escudo and Decimal series so I feel this is what should be covered in depth here. Now on to the coins! The first monster coin offered in the 2nd sale was Lot #30, and yes, I know there was an Mo 1823 JM Hookneck 8 Escudos, but this coin can’t hold a candle to the Mo 1833 MJ 8 Escudos for its importance and rarity! Christie’s had no idea of its rarity; thus there were no photos of a coin that has been sold only twice at public auction in the last 100 years. The second killer coin is at least pictured, and this coin is not only extremely rare but its quality is top-drawer. This Mo 1835 ML 8 Escudo is another often overlooked supreme early Mexico City 8 Escudo rarity, and they simply don’t get any better than this one.
All twelve Mexican Republican mints producing escudo coinage were represented by at least one coin each. The single ugliest coin in the sale was the Norweb’s only gold coin from the Alamos escudo era. Yet this A 1864 PG 8 Escudo was hammered down at almost twice the price of the Mo 1835 ML and three times that of the Mo 1833 MJ. This coin later sold for less than the buyer paid for it that night, proving that most people didn’t understand the true rarity of the Mexican Republic gold in 1985!
Great escudo gold rarities were represented from almost all twelve mints, and exceptionally high quality coins could be found from every mint except Alamos. The highlight of the minor escudos had to be Lot #252, a very rare Zs 1862 VL 4 Escudos that Christie’s severely UnderGraded at Extra Fine when in fact it was almost Uncirculated or even better. There were also many other rare to extremely rare minor gold escudos plus many that were beyond reproach for quality.
It is easy to ascertain the real “gorilla” in the Decimal Gold coinage, a Z 1889 Z 20 Pesos, Lot #441, that carried an estimate from $5,000 to $6,000, which in fact reached over three times the lower estimate at $16,000, an Uncirculated prize for any collection. Other very rare and exceptionally high quality 20 Pesos were found among the 44 lots of 20 Pesos including lots 357, 402, 406, 408, 410, 429, 430, 431 and 440.
Much like the escudo series, there were many rare minor gold decimals that passed over the bar that night at very low prices, making a few dealers and collectors very happy. Some of these bargains in the 30 lots of 10 Pesos include lots 367, 394, 395, 396, 415, 421, 444, and 445.
There were 14 lots of 5 Pesos that included some very nice and rare offerings such as Lot #372, a Mexico City Mo 1884 M that was not pictured, Lot #417 an Cn 1888 M that had never been sold publicly before, and a nice, yet not rare, Go 1871 S.
The gold 1 Pesos were well represented in this sale by 34 coins and there was a major rarity found here too! A nice Alamos As 1888 L, Lot #399, was purchased for $2,100, that seemed on the high side when compared to some of the cheaper prices paid for much greater rarities.
As I stated earlier, the vast majority of the Norweb 8 Reales and silver Pesos have been overlooked by Mexican coin collectors. This happened because they were first sold in a London auction and later over 350 lots of them appeared back in the U.S. in the Coins & Antiquities, Inc. mail bid sale in March 1987. It is a shame that no one has really ever studied or listed them.
Let restate a proven fact; all of the Norweb sales catalogs are a must have for any and all Mexican collectors today!
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