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4 Reales Countermarked
| Issuer | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872-1877 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Countermarked Coinage (Key, 1872-1877) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays the Mexican republican eagle — a spread-winged Mexican eagle perched atop a cactus rising from a rocky outcrop, with a serpent clutched in its beak, facing left. The design is surrounded by an ornamental wreath of laurel and oak branches flanking the central device. The legend REPUBLICA MEXICANA arcs along the upper periphery in raised Latin characters. This is the standard host coin obverse type used on Mexican silver coinage of the mid-19th century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
In the 1870s, Cuba's colonial administration faced a chronic shortage of small silver in circulation, partly because Spanish metropolitan coins were being hoarded or exported. The solution was crude but practical: existing foreign and domestic silver pieces were countermarked with an official punch authorizing continued local circulation at a revalued rate. KM#R2 specifically catalogues the countermarked 4 Reales type, with the punch applied to host coins of varying origin — meaning the underlying piece can differ substantially from example to example.
The host coin's condition before countermarking varied widely, and the punch itself was sometimes applied off-center or with uneven pressure.