Something New: Less than 25 years old or newer
It’s hard to imagine that The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America has already been in print for 6 years. Limited to 500 copies; it is a sought after work by all serious collectors and students of the New World’s Classic Pillar or Columnario Coinage. Unfortunately for the numismatic community, Frank Gilboy died in 1993, and it fell to his son Christopher to assemble the notes, charts, data and text into a cogent and useful reference. The popularity and acceptance of the work is testament to his success. In his acknowledgements section Mr. Gilboy sets the stage for the work by informing readers that his son Christopher who, according to Frank was the first numismatist of the family, had advised him that the “prime aim and justification for collecting coins was research and the extension of knowledge.” Even though the title leaves out the fact that Mexico, one of the Columnario producers, is considered to be a part of North America, we still believe it goes without saying that in his book Mr. Gilboy accomplished both his aim and justification.
Nearly all Spanish Colonial Coin Collectors and/or Researchers now have access to a reference that not only fills in previous informational gaps but also stimulates those individuals to continue to delve into and study those magnificent coins which are historically significant to Europe, the New World (including what were then the American Colonies), and Asia; hopefully adding to our knowledge base. Like his fellow numismatist Clyde Hubbard, Frank believed that any manuscripts or books in the field of numismatics can never be “complete in scope – they are, rather, steps towards a fuller understanding of our numismatic heritage.” We wholeheartedly concur with that assessment and encourage anyone interested in the Columnarios to contribute their findings to the field.
Mr. Gilboy’s research into those fascinating, intriguing and seductive coins has resulted in a single work that provides the readers with as complete a description – as has been developed to date – of all the Columnarios struck at seven of Spain’s Latin American Mints including; Mexico City and Guatemala in the Viceroyalty of New Spain; Santa Fe de Bogotá and Popoyán (that mint, which opened in 1757, almost exclusively produced only gold coins for several years with the silver output apparently limited to a few Columnario 8 reales struck in 1769, obviously they are Exceedingly Rare, an R5 Rating on Gilboy’s Scale estimating there are 1 to 3 pieces extant, all grades) in the Viceroyalty of New Granada; and Lima, Potosí and Santiago de Chile in the Viceroyalty of Perú. Obviously, the acceptance of the book by serious collectors and numismatists give us the proof of his success. In fact, many major auction houses now utilize the Gilboy Numbering System to more accurately attribute specific Columnarios.
As described in the previous paragraph, a quite useful tool from the book is the Rarity Scale and specific application of that scale to each coin that was issued. The Nine Degrees of Rarity ranging from Common to R5* was not just a guess. Mr. Gilboy meticulously recorded sales of specific coins in specific grades from hundreds of auction catalogs (he used multiple auctions from more than thirty well known auction houses), fixed price lists and information provided by other serious collectors (which we believe tend to make his conclusions statistically valid) in order to arrive his estimates. While some in the numismatic community may take issue with his conclusions because they maintain he did not include sufficient data regarding private sales, we find it difficult to accept that as a valid criticism, especially if those espousing same, had such information but chose not to share it. One also has to keep in mind that his numerical estimates are for coins in Very Fine or better except for R4 (4 to 10 pieces known) and R5 (1 to 3 pieces known) in which he recorded all known pieces he found in his research. One example would be the M-1-45d which is a 1 Real struck at Mexico City with the unusual overdate of 1769/70.
C – more than 1,000 extant
N – 500 to 1,000 extant
S – 250 to 500 extant
S2 – 100 to 250 extant
R – 50 to 100 extant
R2 – 25 to 50 extant
R3 – 11 to 25 extant
R4 – 4 to 10 extant
R5 – 1 to 3 extant
There are numerous photographs, which make it much easier to identify specifics with regard to particular issues, obviously a most useful tool. While not a stated objective of the book, the photos are quite helpful to collectors and researchers because they allow a comparison of the photos to a coin that they have in their possession as one step in the process of determining if the coin they have is or is not genuine.
In summation we would have to say that the book is essential to anyone who collects or studies the Pillar Coinage of Latin America. We honor Frank knowing that collectors and researchers will forever acknowledge his contribution to numismatics.
[Home Page] Return to Mexican Coin Magic Home Page