villa66 hat geschrieben:
...Während der ersten Münzprägung diese 1866 1-Peso-Münzen--so die Geschichte erzählt wird--eine sterben-Crack an der Maximilian Porträt entwickelt. Die Crack wurde schnell noch schlimmer, und das Tool zersprungen auf der 36th Streik, zu der Überzeugung unter einige der mehr abergläubischen, dass Maximilian nicht seine 36th Geburtstag erreicht würde.
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During the first coining of these 1866 1-peso coins—or so the story is told—a die crack developed at Maximilian’s portrait. The crack became rapidly worse and the tool shattered on the 36th strike, leading to the belief among some of the more superstitious that Maximilian would not reach his 36th birthday....
With apologies to the Forum for English-only, on the 1866 1-peso of Maximilian’s Mexican Empire:
When I wrote, I could not recall where, exactly, the die crack had developed. I thought, but was not certain, that I remembered reading the die crack had started at the forehead of Maximilian’s portrait. So I worked to find the book in which I had originally read the story. Here it is, from 1968 (illustration #1):
“When the first pesos were struck at the Mexico City Mint for the new emperor, a die break started near the forehead of the emperor, getting progressively larger with each strike. On the thirty-sixth strike the die shattered completely...on June 19, 1867, he was executed...Whether the die break indicated the exact spot that one of the bullets struck him is a matter of conjecture. But the prophecy was fulfilled in that he did not live to celebrate his thirty-sixth birthday.”
But then I also read: “The pesos still extant from this first die can be easily recognized because the lettering is smaller than on those produced from later dies.”
Uh oh. A pattern 1-peso, maybe? So I opened this book, from 1977 (illustration #2):
“The [1866] pattern 1 peso of Maximilian bears the regular design, but with the obverse legend cut in smaller characters and minor differences in the reverse arms. The coin is scarce, but the allegations that only 36 were struck, that the die mysteriously shattered at this point, and that this was the emperor’s age when executed, are all a myth.”
So there it is on the die crack shattering, etc., etc.: “yes” in 1968, but “no” in 1977. Any newer published opinions?
v.