The Roehrs Collection of West Indies Cut and Countermarked Coins (Part I)

Jamaica, Act of 31 December 1772, Eight Escudos, viceroyalty of peru, Philip V, cob 8 Escudos, 1745 or 1746v, Lima, obv. countermarked with script gc raised within a shaped indent and a cayman or alligator raised within a shaped indent on a large central plug, rev. wi lightly engraved on the plug, 26.90g/415.1gr (Gordon 3a, this coin; Prid. 3; KM. 12.2, this coin). Coin fine or better, double-struck with a flan crack, heavily clipped prior to the plug being inserted, countermarks very fine, of the highest rarity; perhaps only one or two other specimens recorded
£6,000-8,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Cut and Countermarked Coins formed by the late Edward Roehrs.

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Provenance: V.M. Brand Collection, Part IX, Sotheby Auction, 14 June 1985, lot 366 [from Spink February 1921].

The Act of 31 December 1772 called in all lightweight gold coins for redemption. As a result some 8 escudo cobs were apparently plugged up to full weight (416 grains). The insertion of plugs in lightweight gold does not appear to have been officially authorised. The initials gc have been attributed to George Clinton, a goldsmith active in Jamaica c. 1770-80