Owner Comments:
General Comments:
Whereas some Peru coins with unusual date/assayer combinations such as the 1875 YB 1/5 Sol and 1907 JF Dinero appear to be counterfeits, the 1889 may exist as a unique die trial or specimen.
In "The Coins of Independent Peru Volume II," Flatt reports: "The author has not seen an example of this coin [1889 1/5 Sol]; there is no documentation showing this coin was made, but an expert known to the author has examined one example. Apparently the dies for 1889 were destroyed 8 January 1890; all of the dies listed were for soles. However, as for the one sol of 1876, the best evidence is the coin itself."
In "The Coins of Independent Peru Volume VI," Flatt continues: "There is no record of any small coins have been made in 1889. However, a respected numismatist reported having seen in a Lima collection a quinto of 1889. From the activity in the mint described in the preceding paragraph, it is quite possible that the reported coin was the result of a trial strike of the new dies."
"The existence of this coin has been disputed by many and there is no record of the coins having minted [sic]. However, Dr. W.B. Christensen has said that he saw the coin in a Lima collection."
I have no further evidence of this coins existence to report.