(911) The Back Page: Volume 2 Issue 9: Last Revision: 06/12/07
Several months ago our publicity shy, and very mysterious, collector-writer OS2GUY1 penned a couple of articles about his first love … Mexican Republic Silver Minors. Because of all of our past problems we are including both in Issue#9 of Mexican Coin Magic under two different columns. The first one appears here and it gives you his spin on collecting Republican 4 Reales. His second article appears in Let’s Talk About Minors. Again, we solicit your comments about both articles and hope you might consider sharing your insights and expertise regarding collecting Mexican coins just as OS2GUY1 has done.
Republican 4 Reales coins were produced at 10 mints during this period, but for many of the years of production the 4 Reales were produced at only 5 to 7 mints at a time. The production of 4 Reales was sporadic at many of the mints, and several mints only produced 4 Reales for a few years. I will describe the characteristics of 4 Reales production at each of the mints:
Mint Production Availability
Culiacan Sporadically All dates are Scarce to Excessively Rare
Catorce 1 year Scarce
Guadalajara Regularly A few are Common. Most are Scarce to Excessively Rare
Guadalupe y Calvo Regularly All are Rare to Very Rare
Guanajuato Regularly Most are Common. Very few are Scarce to Rare
Hermosillo Sporadically 1 Common, 1 Rare, and 1 is Excessively Rare
Mexico City Sporadically Late dates are Common, the balance are Scarce to Rare
Oaxaca 1 year Scarce
Potosi Regularly Some are Common. Most are Scarce to Very Rare
Zacatecas Regularly Most are Common. A few are Scarce. Two are Rare
The history of Mexico itself is reason enough to collect these coins. The times were turbulent, and the governments were generally unstable. Wars occurred on a regular basis. While the 8 Reales was the coin of international commerce, while the 4 reales was the coin that was the workhorse of the Mexican economy. Based on the average condition of these coins, it is apparent that they saw lots of daily use among the people.
The coins are generally available and common for only 2 of the 10 mints; Guanajuato and Zacatecas. The coins from the other mints are generally difficult to locate, and expensive to purchase.
In this article, when I say something is COMMON, I am referring to dates that have 500 or more examples that may exist in the world (both known and unknown examples). Scarce dates would have 100 or more coins (both known and unknown examples). Most of the dates in the series are Scarce to Rare.
Don’t let the series’ scarcity discourage you though, because it is possible to build a very respectable collection thanks to the fact that there are not many collectors competing against you. World wide there are probably at most 300 serious collectors of 4 Reales coins from the Mexican Republic.
If you collect high-grade examples you better be well funded. The average grade of 4 Reales coins is Fine or less. Less than 1% of the coins on the market are in Uncirculated condition. When they come on the market the price easily tops $1,000, even for common dates. Most of the current 4 Reales collectors dream of having a very high-grade example, and many of them will compete against you when high-grade examples become available.
It is extremely likely that most dates do not have even one surviving example of a strictly graded Uncirculated coin.
For an entry level 4 Reales collector, you can really build a nice collection without having to spend more than $25 on a single coin. Advanced collectors get an even better bargain. Many of the coins that are Very Rare (a probable population of 10 to 25 coins) can be had for less than $1,000 in the lower grades. These prices make it possible for even a working-class guy, with limited wealth, to afford to own 1 or 2 Very Rare coins for his collection. It would be impossible to do that with any American series.
A Texas Year Set: (Cost $550 +)
A 4 Real coin from each year until Texas annexation by the United States would be a very historically significant collection. Such a set would contain an 1827, and 1831 thru 1848. This set would take you several years of very active collecting in order to complete. But how much fun is it to collect a series that can be acquired in a short period of time? This would be a collection that you could frame, show to your best friends, and be very proud of.
Such a set would cost less than $550 in Fine condition and would contain 19 coins. The Mo 1827 JM should cost about $200 in Fine condition. The remainder of the coins would cost $25 or less in Fine if you got the most common mint from each year.
A Full Year Set: (Cost $950+)
A single coin, from any mint, from each year of 4 Real production by the Republic of Mexico would be an impressive collection. This would include 1827, then 1831 thru 1864, and 1867 thru 1870. The entire 39 coin set would take several years of active collecting to complete.
If your collection consists mainly of Guanajuato and Zacatecas coins, it could be assembled for about $950 (including the $200 for the Scarce Mo 1827 JM) in Fine condition. While this is not a lot of money, it is still not an insignificants sum. This collection would be significantly challenging to assemble and it would provide pleasure for years, and make a meaningful family heirloom.
Type Coin: (Cost $1,000+)
This set would consist of just one coin in Uncirculated condition. Surprisingly, this single coin would cost more than a 39-coin year set!! An Uncirculated example without full detail on the cap or eagle (a weak strike) would cost $750 to $1,000. These are very rare coins, as fewer than 1% of the available coins are in this grade. Full strike Brilliant Uncirculated coins are in great demand and will cost $1,500 to $3,000, assuming that the date is not rare.
Mint Type Set: (Cost $1,200+)
A mint type set consists of one coin from each of the 10 mints that produced 4 Reales. These 10 coins will cost a lot of money, even if you get the cheapest date from each mint in only Fine condition. The Catorce, Hermosillo, and Oaxaca examples will each cost from $150 to $200. The Guadalupe y Calvo example will cost about $500. The remainder should cost about $20 each. Thus the matching set in Fine condition would run about $1,200. This would be a very impressive collection, even when showed to the most advanced 4 Real collectors. This collection would be populated with four Scarce to Rare coins, and several additional tough examples, and a few common examples. Be prepared to spend some time to assemble this set. There are a lot of collectors in this category, who are in competition for the scarce to rare mints when they become available, and opportunities to purchase them do not present themselves everyday.
Date, Assayer, and Mint (DAM) Set: (Cost $20,000+)
This set has a coin from each date and mint the 4 Reales were produced. Since each coin contains the initials of the assayer, and many years had two assayers, you will also have two coins for many date/mint combinations.
I can’t even tell you how many coins would be in this set because there are Excessively Rare dates (at least three) that don’t even appear in today’s price catalogs. To my knowledge no one has ever completed such a set of 4 Real coins. Aside from the Excessively Rare coins there are many others that are Very Rare and will cost from $1,000 to $3,000 each.
If you attempt to assemble a DAM set, don’t expect to get all coins for the catalog price. These published prices are notoriously inaccurate. There are sleeper DAMs that I suspect are Rare, but are not generally given their due in the catalog with the price that they normally fetch. A sleeper may have a $50 price tag, yet is never available for sale. When it becomes available, the purchaser may find himself having paid 2 to 10 times the catalog price.
You will never complete such a set, but it will bring you endless fun in trying to complete it.
Variety Collections: (Cost Unknown)
Variety collectors are numismatic explorers. They break new ground in identifying unknown varieties and bringing them to the attention of other collectors. There are not many of these folks, but they are the cream of the cream of collectors!!!!!!!
This can be an endless pursuit. This can run the gamut of collecting major varieties, to collecting by die variations. Both rare and common dates have major varieties. The Oaxaca O 1861 FR 4 Reales has three major varieties of edge devices. Many dates have two or more varieties of eagles. The series is ripe with over dates, over mintmarks, and over assayers, many still unpublished in modern catalogs. The pursuit of varieties can be engrossing, expensive, but very enjoyable.
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