2 Reales Type VII Countermark

Costa Rica's mid-century coinage crisis forced the government to countermark Spanish colonial and South American silver rather than strike original issues. The Type VII punch — applied between 1849 and 1857 — was one of several successive countermark types used as Guatemalan and Bolivian 2 reales circulated alongside domestically validated pieces, the distinctions between authorized and unauthorized strikes becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary commerce to navigate.

Host coin origin significantly affects both authenticity assessment and collector value. Bolivian hosts are the most frequently encountered; Guatemalan examples are considerably scarcer.