Ireland, Co. Kilkenny, Castlecomer Crown

Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.  Castlecomer Crown.  DF 628, 26.54 g.  A Mexican silver Charles III 8 reales crown, 1796 FM, Mexico City mint, counter marked on the obverse, PAYABLE AT CASTLE COMER COLLIERY around 5S 5d.  Issued by the Dowager Countess Anne of Ormonde in Castle Comer, a village in southern Ireland, located 11 miles north of Kilkenny, between about 1804 and 1810 to provide a standard Irish equivalent of 5 shillings and 5 pence for the English 5 shillings sterling in the local coal trade.  Of the 14 well known genuine pieces cataloged by B.A. Seaby, Castlecomer Tokens: An Inquiry in BNJ 1965 and Harrington E. Manville, Tokens of the Industrial Revolution, most are in museums and permanent collections.  Very Fine with excellent patina and mark free.  Counter mark well defined and deeply struck causing the coin to be a bit concave.  The only known Castlecomer counter marked crown with the date 1796.  With Spink, Seaby and other tickets.  Very Rare.

Ex R. Peltzer Sale, Glendining 20-24 June 1927, L. 237 to Seaby.  Ex D.S. Napier Sale, Glendining 30 May 1956, L. 299 to Seaby, and advertised in Bulletin, Nov. 1957, p. 491, No. 7356, pl. III, purchased by New York buyer.  Illustrated in Seaby, BNJ 1965, pl. xv, 3.