The Roehrs Collection of West Indies Cut and Countermarked Coins (Part I)

Gibraltar, Type III, c. 1765, Eleven Bitt Dollar (valued at Eight Shillings and Threepence, revalued to 10 Bitts in September 1798), MEXICO, Philip V, 8 Réales, 1745mf, Mexico City, centrally pierced from the obv. with a heart-shaped hole, 24.42g/376.8 gr (Prid. 11 [not in Sale]; KM. Martinique 15). Very fine and toned, extremely rare; only one other specimen (Pridmore 11) traced £2,000-2,500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Cut and Countermarked Coins formed by the late Edward Roehrs.

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Provenance: R.A. Byrne Collection, Jess Peters Auction (Los Angeles), 13-15 June 1975, lot 1220.

This extremely rare variety is unlikely to be a contemporary forgery of the more common type IV as the amount of silver removed is less. It could be an earlier version of type IV or perhaps the product of another officially appointed silversmith. Indeed, there is the possibility that this type could be a forgery from c. 1890-1910