NEW BOOK: MEXICO CITY FRACTIONAL PILLAR COINAGE

A Variety Guide to the Fractional Pillar Coinage of Mexico City 1732-1771
by Brad Yonaka
ISBN: 978-0- 9986825-0- 1
262 pp. | 6 x 9 inch paperback, spiral bound

In 1732 the first machine-struck coins in the New World were manufactured, at the Spanish colonial mint of Mexico City. They were dubbed pillars or ‘columnarios’ due to the prominent rendition of the Pillars of Hercules flanking globes symbolizing the Old and New Worlds, united under the Spanish banner. They quickly became an international currency, trusted and traded around the world.

This book, published April 2017, is a much-needed variety guide for the fractional pillar issues, specifically the half, one, two, and four reales. The targeted audience is the collector of Spanish colonial or Mexican coinage, and presumes the reader has a basic knowledge of 18 th century minting processes. It draws from a database of over 5000 high resolution coin images gathered over a period of ten years from online auctions and photographs of private collections. It has been over a decade since the last published accounting of die varieties in this series, and since that time, over sixty unlisted overdates and other significant design variations have been recorded by the author. Additionally, some speculative variety types listed but unproven in past research are refuted by lack of current evidence, to the end of simplifying the task of the ardent variety collector. With over 400 black and white photos of full coins and close-ups of variety details, this book strives to provide collectors with the most descriptive tools possible in pursuit of this famous coin type. Full cross references are given for varieties already proven from previous works. The 6x9 inch spiral bound format is designed to facilitate portability and allow the book to lay flat without support.

The book also contains descriptive and historical information on the various design elements, estimated rarities (based on the author’s extensive auction database and comprehensive die pairing study), and pricing guide based on recent auction results.

Order from:

Agorocu Consulting Inc.
PO Box 41515
Long Beach, CA 90853
acanthite@live.com

Price: $18 + $3 shipping

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