1879 Ho (Hermosillo) 8 Reales

This is a favorite of mine, one of the few raw "Cap & Rays" ocho reales I've ever run across that I judge to be uncirculated and unmolested (meaning the surfaces are original, that is, without hairlines or being artficially white). In making the determination that no wear has been incurred, the aspect on which to focus is the eagle's claw that's grasping the snake. Even on very nice specimens that at first glance would seem to have a shot at a mint state grade, this high point will often be seen to have been ever so slightly smoothed or flattened. Not the case with this one (the middle toe is actually the tiniest bit concave, but still totally unabraded so far as I can tell).

An interesting die pair, as well. Note the augmentation of the design with regard to the snake's body, which exhibits a very bold and regular segmentation. There's the barest hint of similarity to the "laughing snake" motif that I've previously pointed out with respect to the Alamos issue from the same year, although the Hermosillo version comes off as grimacing instead (see: https://goccf.com/t/229361 to compare the two). Turning the coin over, the "9" is a bit oversized (in this respect my example seems somewhat at variance with the one shown in Respandores). However, the one pictured at http://www.coinfactswiki.com/wiki/M..._JA_8_reales would appear to have been struck with the same cap side die as mine right down to another minor quirk, which is the raised dot in the upper middle of the cap.