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

Sierra Leone, Authorisation not traced, Half-Dollar (presumably valued at Twenty-Six Pence), SPAIN, Charles IIII, 4 Réales, 1803cn, Seville, obv. countermarked with crowned wr incuse, 13.24g/204.3 gr (Vice FT 1, this coin; KM. 13). Coin and countermark very fine though the r of the countermark not fully stamped, extremely rare; only two other specimens recorded £900-1,200

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: J.B. Caldecott Collection, Sotheby Auction, 11-13 June 1912, lot 309; Calico Auction, June 1970, lot 503.

Countermarked half-dollars did not circulate in Sierra Leone and this example is thought to be an experimental striking to test the effectiveness of the broken wr punch (Vice, pp.161, 163)