Important Spanish Colonial Cuartillos from the Emilio Ortiz Collection Featured in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ January 2024 Auction

Costa Mesa, CA – Stack’s Bowers Galleries is proud to present Emilio Ortiz’s Spanish Colonial Cuartillos as a stand-alone catalog in their January 2024 NYINC Auction. This comprehensive collection, assembled over decades, includes nearly all issues of the ¼ Real denomination produced during Latin America’s colonial period. Many pieces have been absent from the market for years and in some cases have never been offered in the state of preservation seen here.

Comprising 422 lots made up entirely of this minor denomination, the catalog spans all colonial mints including Lima, Potosi, Mexico, Guatemala, Santiago, Bogota, and others. Among the highlights is an impressive array of cob Cuartillos from famed assayer Alonso Rincon, including issues from both the Lima and Potosi mints. While almost always encountered with serious damage or wear, the Ortiz Collection specimens are some of the finest known. Also noteworthy are the elusive cobs from Bogota, a challenging and often misunderstood issue with a highly individual character. Low mintage figures for the Santiago mint explain their scarcity today, and this collection includes some of the finest Cuartillos extant from that mint.

Some of the most exciting offerings in this sale come from the final period of Spanish domination in the Americas, during the various wars of independence. Rare royalist issues from emergency provincial mints in Mexico and Venezuela make up an interesting portion of the catalog and represent a great opportunity for specialists in those difficult series. Four examples of an enigmatic copper issue, recently attributed to Cuba, appear in the catalog. An 1822-dated Cuartillo from Guatemala, struck in the year following the country’s official independence, makes an extremely rare auction appearance. A selection of overstruck Santo Domingo issues displays incredible originality and eye appeal, including one with exceptional undertype detail remaining.

Live bidding will begin on January 12, 2024 at 6:30 PM EST, but bidders can browse the catalog online and begin placing bids on their favorite pieces today. A collection with this degree of completion and quality is unlikely to appear in one sale again for many years, so connoisseurs of Spanish colonial coinage should not miss out on this special opportunity. For more information email Info@StacksBowers.com.