Catalog
2 Reales Type I Countermark
| Issuer | Republic of Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841-1842 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Real (1841-1864) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Host coin reverse of the Potosí Mint 2 Reales, displaying the crowned Royal Arms of Spain at center — a quartered shield with castles and lions, supported by the Pillars of Hercules — all surmounted by an ornate crown. The peripheral legend reads HISPAN ET IND REX with the mint mark PTS, denomination 2R, and assayer initials J R flanking the shield in the field. A large round hole pierces the left portion of the field, interrupting part of the legend and the left pillar. The milled border is well-defined, and the overall type corresponds to the standard macuquina/milled colonial coinage of the Bourbon reform period. |
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| Mint | PTS Potosi, Bolivia (1572-1953) |
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| Additional information |
Costa Rica's early republican coinage was chronically undersupplied, and the government's solution was to countermark Spanish colonial 2 reales hosts — primarily Guatemalan and Mexican cobs and milled coinage — to legitimize them for domestic circulation. The Type I punch, applied at San José between 1841 and 1842, is distinct from the later Type II and is known to appear on a notably wider range of host coins, making die attribution genuinely difficult without examining the host itself.