Mexican 8 Reales, Circulation Strikes (1823-1897)

The Republic of Mexico issued 8 Reales with a Cap and Rays design from 1823 to 1897, utilizing mints scattered throughout the country, usually located close to the local silver mines. This is a massive set, replete with rarities and interesting variants (overdates, misspellings, missing superscripts, mintmarks over other mintmarks, transposition errors, assayers' initials over other assayers' initials, etc.). The quality of the coins varies from mint to mint, with Guanajuato and Mexico City producing the best coins and Zacatecas prducing the worst. A few people have attempted this complete set, most notably J.B. Parker, whose collection formed the basis for the wonderful book "Resplandores" (co-authored with Mike Dunigan). This design type is coming into its own, with many collectors appreciating the excellent values and the challenges that this series represents.

Notes: This is a complete set and a work in progress. As other varieties are graded, they may be added to the set.