Very Fine +, Extremely Rare.

Alberto Gomes, in his book 'Moedas Portuguesas' illustrates a Spanish 'Pillar' 8-Real coin - popularly called as 'Spanish Dollar' - which is counterstruck with a similar mark (Gomes 70.01). A counterstruck 'Maria Theresa Dollar' is mentioned by Gomes but he does not illustrate it. While Gomes remarks that the style of the crest is 'similar to the coins of Malacca', on the coin offered here it looks very close to the one encountered on late 18th century Indo-Portuguese copper coins of Diu. The 'Maria Theresa Dollar' was a popular trade coin in the Arabian Peninsula, an area which has had long trading links with Gujarat. It is therefore possible that this coin arrived in Gujarat via Arabia and then was countermarked by the Portuguese in Diu, with a view to make it into a 'Dollar' of their own to facilitate trade further east. A similar coin was sold at Baldwin's Auctions Ltd et al, The New York Sale XVII (9 Jan 2008), lot 897, estimated at US$2000 and sold for US$ 3500.