Topic: [WTS] "First ICO" in History - Silver coin from 1816 (Read 214 times)
Damn, this is awesome. Would be a good fit for my "weird money" collection, but seems like it's probably out of my price range.
Now this is something you don't see every day... a 203 years old ICO.
This coin is a silver coin of "960 Reis" dated 1816 from the Portuguese Empire (Portugal/Brazil/Angola/Mozambique/Macau/etc.).
(For those who don't know the Portuguese Empire is one of the top 10 empires that ever existed and one of the longest lived).
What is interesting about this coin is that it is countermarked with "ICO".
Not only the fact that it is marked with "ICO" and is a crypto related term, but this coin is also a reminder of how the old economies and empires worked, a piece of history in the evolution of money, where bitcoin is at the cutting hedge as of today.
In the old times when currency crossed country borders (or independent regions) the coins would be countermarked so to say the money passed the customs checks and is legal tender in the market (failing to declare money at the customs could get you killed).
As the story tells, back in the 1800s after Brazil independence from Portugal there was a group of revolutionaries in a Brazilian region called Icó (Ceará state), they revolted against the government and started countermarking the coins with their own "ICO" stamp, the name of the region.
Here is a page with some history (In Portuguese):
http://icoce.blogspot.com/2013/04/ico-ce-moeda-do-ico.html
(use google translate for english)
For those who are not experienced with antique coins:
- Buying old coins is actually quite easy and can be inexpensive if you know what you are doing. Just search on ebay there is actually a fluid market for these things.
- 960 reis silver coins (without countermark) generally sell between $100-$300 depending on condition, some countermarked coins are priceless (like this one) and the price is normally defined by auctions/private agreement.
- Coins with countermarks are normally rare, depending on the countermark, the ICO countermark is almost non existent.
I don't want to put this coin for auction yet but I am accepting offers.
Above all I would like to know what the community thinks about it.
This coin is a silver coin of "960 Reis" dated 1816 from the Portuguese Empire (Portugal/Brazil/Angola/Mozambique/Macau/etc.).
(For those who don't know the Portuguese Empire is one of the top 10 empires that ever existed and one of the longest lived).
What is interesting about this coin is that it is countermarked with "ICO".
Not only the fact that it is marked with "ICO" and is a crypto related term, but this coin is also a reminder of how the old economies and empires worked, a piece of history in the evolution of money, where bitcoin is at the cutting hedge as of today.
In the old times when currency crossed country borders (or independent regions) the coins would be countermarked so to say the money passed the customs checks and is legal tender in the market (failing to declare money at the customs could get you killed).
As the story tells, back in the 1800s after Brazil independence from Portugal there was a group of revolutionaries in a Brazilian region called Icó (Ceará state), they revolted against the government and started countermarking the coins with their own "ICO" stamp, the name of the region.
Here is a page with some history (In Portuguese):
http://icoce.blogspot.com/2013/04/ico-ce-moeda-do-ico.html
(use google translate for english)
For those who are not experienced with antique coins:
- Buying old coins is actually quite easy and can be inexpensive if you know what you are doing. Just search on ebay there is actually a fluid market for these things.
- 960 reis silver coins (without countermark) generally sell between $100-$300 depending on condition, some countermarked coins are priceless (like this one) and the price is normally defined by auctions/private agreement.
- Coins with countermarks are normally rare, depending on the countermark, the ICO countermark is almost non existent.
I don't want to put this coin for auction yet but I am accepting offers.
Above all I would like to know what the community thinks about it.
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