The Eric Hodge Collection of British Merchant Coins

England, Cromford (Derbyshire), a MEXICO, Charles IIII, 8 Reales, 1798fm Mexico City, obv. countermarked cromford · derbyshire · around 4/9, 26.85g/12h (Manville 104; Hodge 104E.032a, this coin; KM. 643). Coin and countermark about fine, the value partially erased, probably by mechanical means, very rare £600-£800

Utrecht Amateur Collection, J. Schulman Auction (Amsterdam), 17-18 March 1913, lot 64; V.M. Brand Collection [65560]; F.S. Cokayne Collection, Glendining Auction, 17-18 July 1946, lot 100; H. M. Lingford Collection, Glendining Auction, 24 October 1950, lot 697; SNC, February 1951 [41660]; Baldwin FPL, Summer 2016 [SC069]; Baldwin’s of St James’s Auction 9, 21 September 2017, lot 1371; Baldwin’s of St James’s Auction 26, 22 November 2018, lot 485.

64 known with 26 in institutions. Unusual with value mark partly erased - see vendor’s BNS blog, 7 December 2018, ‘Cromford Derbyshire Countermarks’ [2018]. It is likely that the erasure was done on the host coin, rather than the punch.