By Frank W. Grove- 1981
When I started this article it was supposed to be about Frank Grove and how he has been ignored as a major cataloger of Mexican coins, but as I became engrossed in the article I realized it was really a review and analysis of Grove’s book Coins of Mexico, therefore I changed it into a book review for Volume 1 Issue 3 of Mexican Coin Magic’s Something Old book reviews.
***
Many times today Frank W. Grove is ignored as one of the better early catalogers of Mexican coins, even though the two books he produced about the Metals of Mexico are still “the reference” works in this field.
Once I discovered Frank Grove existed, in the mid 1980s, I asked several coin dealers and collectors about his book Coins of Mexico and very few had much to say about the book. A few told of the many mistakes and errors contained in it, others said that his pricing was considerably “off base”. Over time many of these comments have been proven to be erroneous.
Yes, while there are a number of errors and omissions in Mr. Grove’s work, I believe one must stand back and look at the magnitude of his work before making any critical assessments of this work. First, one must understand his work was published in 1981, a time that definitely is in the “late dark ages” of Mexican Numismatic Literature. Second, one has to only read Grove’s opening statement to understand what he was trying to accomplish with this volume, and I quote:
“This book has been written to meet a long outstanding need. Many books have been written on Mexican coins but all of them are deficient. Most of them cover a small segment of the subject. Robert I. Nesmith’s “The Coinage of the First Mint of the Americas at Mexico City 1536 – 1572” covers a few years of Mexican coinage. Still another book, Hugh S. Guthrie’s “Mexican Revolutionary Coinage 1913 – 1917” covers a few more years.
This book covers the entire period of Mexican coinage from the first of the Carlos and Joana in 1536 to the coins of the present time. Each type shows a photograph or drawing, a brief description and a pricing for each individual listing in four grades of condition.
Not listed are Mexican medals. They have been thoroughly covered in my first two volumes, “Medals of Mexico.” Other items not included are hacienda tokens and patterns. I have indicated and listed a few patterns which might mistakenly be called circulating coins.”
In other words here is a man who is trying to create “the book” for all collectors of Mexican coinage from scratch. Only history can tell if Mr. Grove’s final result and assessment was correct, but one must congratulate Grove for at least attempting to correct what he thought was a “need” in Mexican Numismatics.
After listening to others complain about Grove’s work and other author’s books, and personally trying to write a little good information about certain phases of Mexican Numismatics the truth hits home: There are forces out there (collectors, dealers and publishing interests) that don’t want books or articles published about Mexican Numismatics. These same people want to closely hold all information about Mexican coins because of profit motives. The want and greed for high profits is so great, and Mexican Numismatics is so fractured that these few people are still trying to maintain a “death grip” on the market.
Enough of my rambling, let’s take a look at Grove’s book…
The list of contributors to the book reads like a “who’s who” of Mexican Numismatics for the time, with only a couple of the “giants” missing. Therefore one must assume these people gave “good” information to Grove, or did they? I’m personally unqualified to assess the correctness of most of the information found in this book except in the areas of the Republican 8 Reales and gold escudos, so my analysis will cover only these areas of the book.
Because of the large number of denominations, coins and years of minting I’m going to try to do a random assessment of Groves work for this article using the following method:
1. I wrote the names of the 14 Republican mints on 14 small pieces of paper; I then folded them and put them in a box.
2. Next I wrote the years (1823 to 1905) on individual pieces of paper, split them into two groups: (1) 1823 to 1869 and (2) 1870 to 1905, and put them in another two boxes.
3. I then wrote the 11 denominations on a third set of papers and put them in a third box.
4. Next I went to my reference library and selected all of the published reference catalogs and books I have and wrote them on separate pieces of paper and put them in another box:
(A) 1969- 1st Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by T.V. Buttrey
(B) 1971- 2nd Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by Buttrey & Hubbard
(C) 1977- 3rd Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by Buttrey & Hubbard
(D) 1986- 4th Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by Buttrey & Hubbard
(E) 1992- 5th Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by Buttrey & Hubbard
(F) 1987- 6th Edition of A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to Date by Buttrey & Hubbard
(G) 1999- Krause 2nd Edition of Standard Catalog of World Coins Catalog 1800 to 1900
(H) 1986- The Onza Main Book 1611 – 1873” by the Calico Brothers
(I) 1981- Standard Catalog of Mexican Coins, Paper Money, etc. by Colin Bruce II
(J) 1978- Standard Catalog of Mexican Coins, Paper Money and Medals by George Vogt
(K) 1976- The Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Mexican Coins by Larry Hanks
5. Finally I took the four grades listed in Grove; Fine, Very Fine, Extra Fine, and Uncirculated wrote them on separate pieces of paper and deposited them in another box
For each test I drew a denomination, two mints, two years for each mint, one grade, and finally two publications to compare Grove’s book with for analysis. A Special Note: Normally I use the Calico brothers The Onza Main Book as one of my primary sources for 8 Escudos, but because they have a single price and cover only 8 Escudos, I have purposely left this book out of my analysis. Last I took the last sale price for that grade I have from the FoxLair Mexican Republic Gold & Silver Sales Index© and listed this price.
While not a true scientific method, this procedure should give us a good random sampling. In those cases where all five elements didn’t align, I drew again until I had a match.
Here then are the results of my first little test on the Republican 8 Reales and the escudo coinage:
The Republican 8 Reales:
Mint #1: Chihuahua: Years: 1850 & 1864; Grade: Extra Fine
Ca 1850 RG
Grove: Two varieties= Normal Date $75.00 & 50/40 OverDate $75.00
Catalog D: Two varieties= Normal Date $45.00 & 50/40 OverDate $45.00
Catalog J: Two varieties= Normal Date $37.50 & 50/40 OverDate $42.50
FoxLair: Two varieties= 50/40 OverDate $85.00 & 50/49 OverDate $128.00
Ca1864 JC
Grove: One variety Normal Date $60.00
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date $65.00
Catalog J: One variety= Normal Date $21.50
FoxLair: Two varieties= Normal Date $120.00
Mint #2: San Luis Potosi- Years: 1836 & 1855; Grade: Very Fine
Pi 1836 JS
Grove: Two varieties= Normal 8R Date $85.00 & Normal 8Rs $85.00
Catalog A: One variety= Normal Date $22.00
Catalog G: One variety= Normal Date $30.00
FoxLair: Six varieties= Normal 8Rs Date only $98.00
Pi 1855 MC
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $75.00
Catalog K: One variety= Normal Date $35.00
Catalog E: One variety= Normal Date $150.00
FoxLair: Six varieties= Normal Date $126.85
The Republican 8 Escudos:
Mint #1: Mexico City- Years: 1831 & 1838 Grade: Very Fine
Mo 1831 JM
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $800
Catalog E: One variety= Normal Date $600
Catalog F: One variety= error listing 30/29 OverDate $600
FoxLair: Four Normal Date varieties= $350
Mo 1838 ML
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $800
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $450
Catalog G: One variety= Normal Date $600
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date only two verified sales $2,800
Mint #2: Oaxaca- Years: 1859 & 1860 Grade: Uncirculated
@ 1860 AE
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $4,500
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date $3,000
Catalog I: One variety= Normal Date $3,000
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date $6,500
O 1864 FR
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $2,400
Catalog E: One variety= Normal Date $2,700
Catalog J: One variety= Normal Date $900
FoxLair: Two varieties= 4/1 OverDate $2,500 & Normal Date $2,425
The Republican 4 Escudos:
Mint #1: Guadalupe y Calvo- Years: & Grade: Fine
GC 1845 MP
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $1,320
Catalog A: One variety= Normal Date $ Unpriced
Catalog I: One variety= Normal Date $700
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date only Confirmed specimen sold for $4,500
GC 1847 MP
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $1,325
Catalog F: Unlisted
Catalog J: Unlisted
FoxLair: No Recorded Sales
Mint #2: Mexico City- Years: & Grade: Uncirculated
Mo 1832 JM
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $1,500
Catalog A: One variety= Normal Date $150
Catalog K: One variety= Normal Date $1,200
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date Unconfirmed in Uncirculated
Mo 1863 CH
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $1,400
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $1,000
Catalog I: One variety= Normal Date $850
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date $2,750
The Republican 2 Escudos:
Mint #1: Guanajuato- Years: 1853 & 1860 Grade: Uncirculated
Go 1853 PF
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $285
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $400
Catalog K: One variety= Normal Date $275
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date Unconfirmed in Uncirculated
Go 1860 PF
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $285
Catalog F: Two varieties= Normal Date $400 & 60/59 OverDate $400
Catalog G: Two varieties= Normal Date $400 & 60/59 OverDate $400
FoxLair: Two varieties= Normal Date & 60/59 OverDate Unconfirmed in Uncirculated
Mint #2: Zacatecas- Years: 1860 & 1864 Grade: Fine
Zs 1860 VL
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $350
Catalog A: One variety= Normal Date $55
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date $175
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date $550
Zs 1864 MO
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $400
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date $175
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $150
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date only one verified sale recorded @ $1,650
The Republican 1 Escudos:
Mint #1: Culiacan- Years: 1847 & 1854 Grade: Extra Fine
C 1847 CE
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $220
Catalog G: One variety= Normal Date $175
Catalog J: One variety= Normal Date $105
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date $185
C 1854 CE
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $250
Catalog E: One variety= Normal Date $150
Catalog I: One variety= Normal Date $175
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date only two verified sales @ $240 & $1,250
Mint #2: Durango- Years: 1833 & 1861 Grade: Extra Fine
Do 1833 RM
Grove: One variety= 3/2 OverDate RM/RL OverAssayer $220
Catalog A: One variety= 3/2 OverDate RM/RL OverAssayer $32
Catalog G: One variety= 3/2 OverDate RM/RL OverAssayer $300
FoxLair: Two varieties= Normal Date $176 & 3/2 OverDate RM/RL OverAssayer $210
Do 1861 CP
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $215
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date $200
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $175
FoxLair: One variety= only one verified sale Normal Date @ $1,000
The Republican ½ Escudos:
Mint #1: Guadalajara- Years: 1837 & 1856 Grade: Fine
Ga 1837 JG
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $115
Catalog F: One variety= Error listing assayer as ML
Catalog I: One variety= Normal Date $85
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date *Special Note: I have recorded 12 sales of this DAM:
The lowest grade was a Very Fine @ $125
Ga 1859 JG
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $110
Catalog G: One variety= Normal Date $50
Catalog K: One variety= Normal Date $37
FoxLair: One variety= Normal Date $175
Mint #2: Guadalupe y Calvo- Years: 1846 & 1847 Grade: Uncirculated Catalogs:
GC 1846 MP
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $165
Catalog D: One variety= Normal Date Unlisted in Uncirculated
Catalog G: One variety= Normal Date Unlisted in Uncirculated
FoxLair: Two varieties= Normal Date highest grade recorded aUnc @ $350
GC 1847 MP
Grove: One variety= Normal Date $165
Catalog A: One variety= Normal Date Unlisted in Uncirculated
Catalog F: One variety= Normal Date $175
FoxLair: Four varieties= (1) OverDate & (3) Normal Dates $350
In Summary
If you study the above chart, from this snapshot analysis, you can see that Frank Grove did more than a good job of cataloging in his 1981 book. Even today this is the only true reference work that tries to list and give a unique individual number to all of many Mexican DAMs and varieties from the beginning of minting operations in the Mexico City Mint in 1536 until he published his work. One thing that is important for your consideration; this may be the only reference book having at least one photograph or line drawing of all of the Mexican Coin Types available to Mexican coin collectors today and Grove also shows a few of the major die style changes. However, the book does have some errors and omissions, and while the price data may be out of date, Grove seems to be closer with his price data than even modern catalogs. One must also consider that Frank Grove understood the importance of a good numbering system and he attempted to create one for Mexican Numismatics in order for collectors to communicate with each other about individual DAMs and varieties. But like so many of the others with detailed multi-level numbering systems, Grove’s system was a static ascending number system with the inherent problems of how to insert new discoveries into the system without totally renumbering thousands of coins, therefore it was never accepted by the coin collecting community.
I personally believe Frank Grove admirably fulfilled “the need” he thought existed in the early 1980s, even if others don’t!
As I mentioned earlier, I had intended to do an article about Frank Grove, but instead ended up with a book review of Coins of Mexico, by the way I rate all three of Grove’s works a 4.5 Stars on a 5 Star Rating Scale and would feel naked without them in my library.
[Coin Views 306] Return to Coin Views & Reviews Volume 1 Issue 3
[Table of Contents] Return to Table of Contents Volume 1 Issue 3
[Home Page] Return to Mexican Coin Magic Home Page