VILA RICA MOEDAS AUCTION 22

Vila Rica will hold its Auction 22 on September 17th and 18th. The auction is internet-only and split over two sessions. It will offer a vast range of Brazilian coins, from Colonial to Republican issues, foreign coins, literature, and a collection of rare receipts of colonial gold bars. It also features the most important coin of all copper coinage, the 80 Réis 1831B.

During the first half of the 18th century, Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto) and the other cities in the Minas Gerais District of Brazil produced half of the world's gold output. Gold coins and gold bars were produced in abundance, and due to their high metal value (some bars weighed more than 200 grams), very few bars survived, with most having been melted down over the last 300 years.

Gold in powder or nuggets were brought to a foundry house, controlled by the crown. The gold was melted, tax was applied, and the net result was returned to the owner in the form of a bar, punch marked with information such as number, weight, fineness, assayers' initials, date, mint mark, etc. Each bar was accompanied by its own guide which recorded the same information marked in the bar, for the purpose of attesting authenticity and checking the bar´s specifications. The foundry house kept a copy in the form of a receipt in its books. Bars, guides and receipts are therefore very important numismatic documents that are rarely offered on the market and are very sought after by collectors. The collection that we are auctioning has been built up over the last 25 years and this sale is a unique opportunity to acquire such pieces, themselves extremely important documents from one of the greatest cycles of gold discovery and exploration in history.

Some highlights of the sale follow:

 

Lot 11 - Brazil, 6400 Réis, 1832R. Gold. AI O612. VF+. With die artist name's AZEVEDO F. Rare! Very little circulation and the condition isn't better due to some marks on the reverse. Lightly cleaned but still retaining some original luster

 

Lot 14 - Brazil, 20000 Réis, 1862. Gold. AI O682. NGC AU50. Key date of the series! Extremely rare

 

Lot 16 - Crowned Stamp, 2S0 (250) Réis, ND (1688). Silver. AI P093; Bentes 62.02 (R2). VF+. Over Portuguese 1/2 cruzado D. João IIII - Évora (with new border, legend and cord). Beautiful coin, very attractive. Very rare for being Évora

 

Lot 18 - Brazil, 320 Réis, 1702P. Silver. AI P146; Aranha 1B (E). VF-. One of the key dates of the extensive coinage of 320 Réis and very rare in any condition. Rarely offered on the market.

 

Lot 293 - Brazil, 80 Réis, 1831B. Copper. AI C660. VF, and with a beautiful dark wine color. Very attractive. With no more than 10 pieces known, the 80 Réis of 1831B is the most important piece of the copper collection. The coin offered here at auction is one of the two best preserved among those in existence (the other belonging to a private collector from Minas Gerais state). Like all the others, it shows evidence of having been minted with rusty dies. This one, however, has been fully struck, with denomination, date, mintmark "B" and all the legends struck and preserved in their entirety, which is rare for this type, which is in itself a very rare coin. We offer here a unique opportunity not only to acquire an extremely rare piece, but also one of the two best preserved.

 

Lot 308 - Page 124 of the Vila Rica Foundry House registry book. Registration (receipts) of bars 5281, 5282, 5283 and 5284. Year 1758. Excellent condition. Very rare lot. The few surviving bar records and guides are very rare, and this lot with the sequence of receipts of 4 bars is certainly a unique piece. Prober record 003. Prober page 23. Ex. Souza Lobo, Guinle and Prober Collections. The oldest known dates of the bars are from the end of the 18th century and this guide is, therefore, one of the only and rare records of bars cast in the 50s of that century. A buying opportunity that will not be repeated any time soon.

 

Lot 310 - Guide of bar 2900 from the Vila Rica Foundry. Year 1765. Prober record 005. Excellent condition and extremely rare. Ex. Kurt Prober Collection. The oldest known dates of the bars are from the end of the 18th century and this guide is, therefore, one of the only and rare records of bars cast in the 60s of that century.

 

Lot 314 - Guide of bar 355 from the São Félix Foundry of the Captaincy of Goyaz. Dated June 23, 1773. Unpublished and the only one known. Ref: SNB Bulletin No. 54, 2004, "Guia de Barra de Ouro Fundição de São Félix", by Cláudio Schroeder, pages 86 and 87, with illustration. According to the article, Prober reports the history of the São Félix Foundry but does not mention examples of bars or guides. According to Prober's study, this would be a type 7 guide, with text beginning with METTEO. It would have the catalog number Prober 006. Pre-printed date text 176_ but later changed, by hand, to 1773. In exceptional condition and for this reason even more exceptional. The oldest known dates of the bars are from the end of the 18th century and this guide is therefore one of the only and rare records of bars cast in the 70s. A buying opportunity that will not be repeated any time soon.

 

Lot 315 - Guide of bar 2650 from the Vila Rica Foundry. Dated August 7, 1798. Very rare. Ex. SNB Auction - December 7, 2008, VI Latin American Numismatic Congress, lot 234 (sold for R$ 2,000.00 = US$ 1,000.00); Ex. Roberto Lemos Monteiro Collection; Ex. Private Collection. In exceptional condition and very rare as such. It comes with original plastic auction envelope, a clipping of the lot's photo from the auction catalog with notes by Dr. Roberto, and a card with a description of the guide, handwritten and signed by Dr. Roberto. Provenance from one of the most important numismatic collections of Brazil.

 

Lot 317 – Empty / Unfilled gold bar guide, without handwritten notes! Unpublished and extremely rare. See Prober page 25

Vila Rica Moedas (www.vilaricamoedas.com) is a Numismatic company based in São Paulo, Brazil, and it is run by its two partners David André Levy and Hilton Lúcio, both authors of reference catalogs and accomplished numismatists.

The auction will take place on September 17th and 18th. Registration for bidding can be done at https://leiloes.vilaricamoedas.com/. If you need assistance, please feel free to contact either David or Hilton through the email info@vilaricamoedas.com and they will be happy to assist you with registration.

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