Coins of the West Indies from the Collection of the late Edward Roehrs (Part II)

Virgin Islands, ——— Sixty-Six Shillings, BRAZIL, Joseph I, counterfeit 6,400 Reis, 1772, Rio, obv. with small plug soldered and script b raised within a shaped indent, rev. large central plug soldered with a countermark that has been obliterated by another unidentified countermark, 12.52g/193.2 gr/8.05 dwt (cf. Gordon 303 and 307 for script b countermark). Coin fine but with light clipping of the edge, script b countermark better, extremely rare; only 3 specimens recorded with this variety of the script b countermark £3,000-3,500

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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Collection

Provenance: R. Strauss Collection; bt A.P. de Clermont March 2000.

The other two specimens with the so-called West Indies script b countermark listed by Gordon have had plugs removed (Guadeloupe 1803), then had 20 above eagle countermarks applied (Martinique 1805). As the specimen above is intact and to the 8 dwt standard it does point to the strong possibility that this variety of the script b is a Virgin Island goldsmith prior to 1803