2 Reales Type III Counterstamp

In 1845, Costa Rica lacked the infrastructure to mint its own coinage at scale, so the Casa Nacional de Moneda in San José applied counterstamps to existing Spanish colonial and Central American Federation silver to legitimize it for domestic circulation. The Type III counterstamp — a distinct punch variant within a series of similar authorizations — represents one of several attempts to regulate a monetary supply that was otherwise chaotic, flooded with worn and clipped foreign pieces of uncertain fineness.

The host coin beneath the stamp varies, which complicates cataloging considerably. KM#42 encompasses a range of host types, and the premium on any given example shifts substantially depending on the legibility and origin of the underlying planchet.