A Long Island Collection of Latin American coins reads like an oxymoron. After all, Long Island and Latin America are two of the most dissimilar locations. A collection that resembles long lost buried treasure from an era of great wooden sailing ships does better to capture the interest of serious collectors that aren’t just in search of rare coins. The story behind each makes them unique and someone interested in an age before America can transport themselves back to an age of piracy. Whereas various nationalities of gold and silver coins in this auction had to be protected on the high seas from pirates.

The Long Island Collection of Latin American Coins closes at Heritage Auctions on March 27, 2022. These are very low population coins, many have only single digits of others known for both the grade or the population as a whole.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means rare coins from Latin America are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. Many of the coins from this Heritage Auction now cost thousands of dollars (or much more). Collectors with a passion to own a gold 1715 dated Cob recovered from the 1715 plate fleet of Mexico for years frequently have to compete directly against investors whose only desire is to make a profit in the future.

All images provided are courtesy of Heritage Auctions.  Here are rare varieties of Latin American coins that are available for collectors at Heritage Auctions and NGC Coin.

Sombrerete de Vargas Ferdinand VII “Royalist” 8 Reales 1810 VF30 NGC. The coin is a coveted first year issue of Sombrerete War of Independence 8 Reales from Mexico. The current bid is $8,250.00 after 27 bids. According to the NGC population guide provided by Heritage Auctions there are only three examples that have been graded in this condition by NGC and they represented 50% of the known graded examples total.

Philip V gold Cob 2 Escudos 1715 Mo-J UNC Details (Environmental Damage) NGC. The coin was minted in Mexico City and the current bid is $6,750.00 after 14 bids. The total population in all grades for NGC is only two examples.

Ferdinand VI gold Cob 8 Escudos 1748 L-R AU Details (Mount Removed) NGC. According to Heritage Auctions the dark crevices suggest possible salvage, which when imagining years in a tropical sandy environment only adds to the character. The coin has a current bid of $6,500.00 after 13 bids. This is the only known AU details graded example by NGC.

Ferdinand VI gold Cob 8 Escudos 1750 L-R AU55 NGC, Lima mint with a current bid of $6,500.00 after The last year of Peruvian gold Cobs. According to Heritage the coin is double-dated and well centered, with slight doubling that does not interfere with the clarity of the devices. Though not in Sotheby’s March 1993 catalog of the Uruguayan Treasure of the Río de la Plata (the La Luz shipwreck), the dark crevices suggest it likely came from the wreck, with reportedly very few examples of this date and denomination recovered.

Heritage Auctions sold an NGC AU58 of this coin for $5,520.00 on August 15, 2019.

British Colony Jose I gold contemporary counterfeit “Coconut Wreck” 6400 Reis 1776-R XF (clipped) example from the Rio De Janeiro Mint. The coin has a current bid of $6,250 after 18 bids. Nicknamed the “Piña Colada wreck” and “Atlantic Target Expedition wreck,” the wood vessel was loaded with coconuts, hence the name given by Stack’s in the original 2008 sale. 1300 silver coins were retrieved from a chest, along with an ornate gold box that contained 13 gold coins wrapped in a newspaper dated August 6, 1809. The example offered is number #7 from the 13 recovered, with original salvors tag.