Catalog
8 Reales Countermarked
| Issuer | Spanish Colonial Government (Cuba) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872-1877 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a Phrygian cap of Liberty at center, radiating thirty-two elongated rays symmetrically outward to the beaded border, creating a bold sunburst device. The denomination 8R appears to the left of the cap, and the fineness designation 10Ds. appears to the right. Along the lower arc, the mint mark Z (Zacatecas), assayer's initials J.S., and the date 1877 are inscribed in the exergual field, all within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Between 1872 and 1877, Spanish colonial authorities in Cuba counterstamped circulating 8 reales — primarily Mexican and other Latin American issues — to validate them for local use amid chronic coin shortages on the island. The Ten Years' War (1868–1878), Cuba's first major independence uprising, had severely disrupted normal monetary supply channels from the peninsula.
KM#R3 specifically documents the crowned Y-II counterstamp applied under royal authority. Coins that failed inspection or bore insufficient silver content were rejected; those that passed were effectively re-monetized by the stamp itself rather than by their original issuing authority.