JARA'S THE CHILOE PESO PUBLISHED Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 13, March 28, 2004, Article 14
JARA'S THE CHILOE PESO PUBLISHED
Alan Luedeking writes: "I'm pleased to announce the release
of another of Carlos Jara's works on Chilean numismatics,
"The Chiloé Peso - An Important Obsidional Coin of Chile".
This work is the definitive study on what is in all probability the
very last crown ever issued under official Spanish authority (in
1826) in the New World. It is a very rare cast coin whose
history has always been shrouded in mystery, and of which
numerous dangerous forgeries have been concocted for ]
collectors since the time of its circulation (note that all public
offerings of these coins, some by very prestigious numismatists
dealing in Latin American coinage, have been modern forgeries.)This book unveils for the first time the full historical background
of this enigmatic coin, based entirely on contemporary and other
historical documentation, which Carlos studied in depth, often
being the first to break the seals on the dusty packets since the
time the Chilean government first archived them in the 19th
Century. A detailed cataloguing of the forgeries, both
contemporary and modern, and how to distinguish them, with
numerous illustrations and a detailed history of the coin's
appearances at auction, are woven into the presentation of its
historical context.The Spanish Commander Antonio Quintanilla was the last
royal (and loyal) governor to hold out against republican forces
anywhere in South America, and defended his island almost to
the last man. Severe coin shortages forced him to finally issue
cast coins with silver captured by privateers he had commissioned
with letters of marque to prey up and down the coast. He was
already then concerned with the potential ease of counterfeiting,
and so devised a unique way of identifying his original obsidional
issue, built into the manufacturing process.It should be noted that I had some involvement with the creation
of this work, and Carlos has honored me with a co-authorship
of it, though I hasten to emphasize that all the merit of the research
and its conclusions belong to Carlos. Being so specialized, he has
produced this work in a very limited edition of only 40 hand-
numbered copies, hardbound in black linen with a pictorial
dustjacket, quarto in size. He has so far only presold a dozen or
so, I believe, at $47 apiece, postpaid to the United States.Interested readers may apply for their copy directly to Carlos
Jara at clejara at yahoo.com. For those who would rather
borrow it, I will be donating a copy each to the Numismatics
International and American Numismatic Societies libraries."- 2004-03-28
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