The Ecuador 50 Francos 1862: new information.
Probably the most famous coin from Ecuador and seemingly unique, the Ecuador 1862 50 Francos has been subject of much debate, and it has come back to the numismatic community forefront, since its recent offering at auction by Heritage in their January 2010 Signature World Coin Auction (lot # 21119: Heritage 50 Francos). With a high reserve, it failed to sell, but its appearance helped to gather physical information about it, most of it obtained by noted collector Chuck Helfand.
These new antecedents, along with a previously unpublished document of the era, provide with new insights about the 1862 50 Francos coin, and allow us to make some precisions and complete our analysis of the mentioned specimen, previously published as part of our 2004 book “The Strange Concurrence of Coinage in Francos and Reales in Ecuador from 1858 to 1862 and the Fabled Fifty Francos of 1862”.
A cogent article-- superb analysis of the facts, arguments and counter arguments. There can be no doubt now that this fascinating coin was an entirely legitimate issue, falling well within the bounds of the law and expectations of the day. Hats off, Carlos, for an outstanding piece of research whose conclusions will stand the test of time as the last word on the subject.
ReplyDelete-AlanL
I am confused as to why these issues (the 1858 5 F & the 1862 50 F) are referred to as "francos". It appears that the documents pertaining to the issuance of the coins only refer to Francs, the coins themselves only have "F" for the denomination, and they were clearly issued according to the French standard. Why are they not called 5 francs and 50 francs?
ReplyDeleteDear Gallenus:
ReplyDeleteI simply referred to them as the Ecuadorean people would have referred to them in their period of circulation, thus in Spanish. 5 Francos and 50 Francos is also the way they are referred to in contemporary documentation. Conversely, sometimes in French contemporary documentation, you see the 8 Reales coins referred to as "8 Reaux" instead. You are right in that the Ecuadorean 5 F and 50 F are equivalent to 5 Francs and 50 Francs respectively.
Carlos, Felicitaciones por tan esmerado trabajo de investigación! Quisiera saber si puedo publicar una interpretación al español de tu documento para poder compartirlo y comentarlo en mi grupo numismático a través de mi blog. En espera de tu respuesta me despido. (uio.ccg@gmail.com)
ReplyDelete"The Strange Concurrence of Coinage in Francos and Reales in Ecuador from 1858 to 1862 and the Fabled Fifty Francos of 1862" está a la venta? lo he buscado en la red pero no lo consigo
ReplyDelete