Coins of the West Indies from the Collection of the late Edward Roehrs (Part II)

Martinique, Virgin Islands-Martinique, Authority of September 1805, Twenty-Two Livres per gros, BRAZIL, Maria I, 6,400 Réis, 1789, Rio, obv. countermarked 22 above eagle raised within a shaped indent, (Gordon’s Variey B ‘reworked’, making it slightly difficult to see), later stamped 22 above eagle raised within a shaped indent in the field, 12.46g/192.3gr/8.01 dwt [the exact weight standard for the Virgin Islands, c. 1798] (cf. Gordon 19 and 205-7; cf. Chalmers p.74). Coin and countermarks very fine, extremely rare £2,500-3,000

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.C. Rovensky Collection, B. Max Mehl Mailbid Sale, 30 November 1954 (2137); J.J. Ford Jr Collection, Glendining Auction, 16 October 1989, lot 255.

The late Ralph Gordon described three varieties of ‘modern fraud’ of the Martinique 22 above eagle countermark. The cataloguer disagrees with this designation and, with the benefit of examining additional specimens not available to Gordon, believes that all three varieties can be considered contemporary