Cool 19th Century Brazilian Patterns Struck in Wood

While not among the more valuable coins that cross my desk every week, these patterns are three of the more interesting. They’re the first coins I’ve ever encountered which werestruck in wood. A quick Google search brings up the Coinfacts page, but no real information is readily available.

The coins all date 1886, one being a 50 Reis pattern graded SP63 by PCGS (KM-Pn157), the second a 100 Reis pattern graded SP64 by PCGS (KM-Pn158), and the third a 200 Reis pattern graded SP65 by PCGS (KM-PN160). All were recently certified and reside in Secure Plus holders. Perhaps the coolest thing about these coins is the fact that you can see the tree rings on the surface, similar to metal flow lines present in their metal counterparts. The phenomenon is very pronounced on the 200 Reis, slightly less so on the 100 Reis, and significantly less so on the 50 Reis.

All three coins will be offered in our upcoming 2012 August ANA World Sale, in the Internet Only session (that is, session 5) lot numbers 50344, 50345, and 50346 being the 50R, 100R, and 200R pieces respectively.