The Mexico City mint

Mexico City is the nation 's capital and home to the íirsl mint established in the New World in 1536. The first silver issue of the Republic of Mexico was the Profile or Hook-neck Eagle Cap and Rays 8 Reales minted in Mexico City in 1823. No other mint issued Republican 8 Reales in 1823. The 8 Reales series was interrupted twice from 1823 until its conclusion in 1897. The first interruption was during the Maximilian era, when the mint was under the control of the Imperial forces from 7 June, 1863 to 20 June 1867. The second was for the issuance of the Balance Scale Peso 1869 - 1873.

Mínt owners or lessees and their tenures

from	to
1824	13 April 1847	Government of the Republic of Mexico
13 April 1847	6 April 1857	Palamade de la Roche y Cia.{footnote}with the association of the Mackintosh Mint Company: however, in January 1850 Mackintosh sold his shares and co-tenant rights to Juan Antonio Béistegui.{/footnote}
6 April 1857	1858	Bellange y Temple
1858	1 January 1869	Juan Temple
1 January 1869	31 March 1872	Government of the Republic of Mexico
1 April 1872	31 January 1893	Francisca Temple de Ajuria
31 January 1893	1905	Government of the Republic of Mexico

 

Assayers and their tenures (as evidence by coinage)

Initial	Name	Begins on	Ends on
JM	José Garcia Anzalda and Manuel Ruiz Tejada Manuel Ruiz de Tejada was born in Aguascalientes on 11 October 1779. On 1 January 1792 he enrolled in the Escuela de Minas (then the Real Seminario de Minería) in Mexico City, the day that it opened, and spent part of his course at mines in Zacatecas before graduating with the highest honours. He then substituted for the ailing professor of Mathematics and on the latter’s death took over the post. On the death of the professor of Physics, he took over that role, which he held for sixty years. As the corps of professors of Minería was the only scientific body in Mexico at that time, all questions that should have been decided by government or individuals were passed to them and Tejada, always part of the relevant commission, propounded and decided them “with his good judgement, vast knowledge and privileged talent”. When Baron Alexander von Humboldt, the German polymath, geographer, naturalist and explorer, visited Mexico in 1803 he developed a friendship with the one he called “the wise Tejada”, and they corresponded until von Humboldt’s death in 1859. Tejada was appointed Ensayador 1o Supernumerio of the Mexico City mint by royal cédula of 5 May 1815 “to reward his knowledge (para premiar sus concocimientos)”, a position he held until his death. He served in various legislatures, and in 1847 took up arms in defence of his country. On 10 February 1866 Emperor Maximilian invested him as a Knight of the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle{footnote}La Sociedad, Tomo VI, Núm. 966, 15 February 1866{/footnote}. He died on 28 January 1867.{footnote}La Sociedad, Tomo V. Núm. 1,299, 1 February 1867{/footnote}.	1823{footnote}since 1822 under Iturbide{/footnote}	1832
MJ	Manuel Ruiz Tejada and Jose Carda Anzaldo	1833
ML	Manuel Ruiz Tejada and Luis Velazquez de la Cadena	1833	1836
		1837
		1838	1842
MF	Manuel Ruiz Tejada and Francisco Lelo de Larrea	1836
		1844	1847
MM	unknown	1837	1838
		1842	1843
MF	unknown	1844	1847
RC	unknown	1847
GC	Joaquín González and Sebastían Camacho	1848	1855
GF	unknown	1855	1857
FH	unknown and Francisco Hermosa Francisco Hermosa was born in Mexico City on 13 January 1829. He entered the Colegio de Mineria in 1843 and graduated as an Ensayador-Apartador de Metales on 5 September 1849. He then worked in the mining areas of Guanajuato, El Oro and Tlalpujahua and in 1857 produced a small work entitled Manual de Laboreo de Minas y Beneficio de metals, dispuestopara uso de los mineros y azogueros de la República Mexicana. He was appointed ensayador at the beginning of May 1857 and served for thirty-three years, retiring on 5 December 1889. He died on 14 May 1891{footnote}El Tiempo, 26 May 1891{/footnote}.	1858	1860
TH	unknown and Francisco Hermosa	1860	1861
		1863
CH	unknown and Francisco Hermosa	1863	1869
PH	unknown and Francisco Hermosa	1868
MH	Antonio Mucharras and Francisco Hermosa	1873	1874
		1877	1890
BH	Mariano Barcena and Francisco Hermosa	1874	1876
AM	Adolfo Medina	1890	1908
AB	Antonio de la Barrera	1895	1896

 

 

The Eight Reales Coinage of Oaxaca: 1861-1864

During this brief four-year period, the coinage of Oaxaca provides the numismatist with a wealth of variety, a large measure of confusion and numerous unanswered questions. Collectors and catalogers have long been confused over how to organize the coinage of this period. There are three different mintmarks and two assayers. Some have chosen to organize by date and then note the mintnark variety and assayer for each coin. Others have preferred to list the coins by mintmark and then by date and assayer under each mintmark.

For years Donigan and Parker{footnote}{/footnote} wondered how and why any mint could produce coins so drastically different in style, fabric, and quality. Why would they use two mintnarks in some years and three in another?

There were the extremely crude issues of 1861 and 1862 with the a inside O rnintnark and the FR assayer. At the same time there was a nicely styled and much better executed issue that bad the O mintmark also with the FR initials. In 1863 the issue with the O mintmark and the FR initials continued in the same style of the two previous years, but there appeared three different coins with the assayer's initials AE. One was nicely styled and deeply engraved with the a inside O mintmark. Another, which was also nicely styled and bore some similarity to the preceding coin had the unusual mintmark of an a above the O. The two preceding coins are very rare and seldom encountered, but the third coin, which also bears the assayer's initials AE, has only the O mintmark. This last coin is nicely styled with good die workmanship. It is similar to, but better executed than the a above O mintmark issue of the same year.

In trying to organize this in a satisfactory way, Donigan and Parker kept running into a wall. When they tried to sort by date nothing made sense. When they tried sorting by mintmark the styles did not match up and overlapped. Sorting by assayer was equally fruitless. In short, nothing made any logical sense. Finally, out of frustration, they decided to practice what they preached and listen to the coins. To make a long story short, it became apparent that there were two mints working simultaneously in Oaxaca. Both of these mints were striking coins from 1861 through 1863 and operating under the same assayer in 1861 and 1862. Their equipment would have been very different, accounting for the major differences in quality and style.

The first of these mints produced the crude 1861 and 1862 issues with the a inside O mintmark and later the three 1863 AE issues. Donigan and Parker consider this the first mint because it is their theory, based on the mintmark (a inside O) and the fact that production seems to have continued uninterrupted, that this is the mint where the previous Oaxaca coinage was struck. They have no explanation for the marked deterioration in style between 1860 and 1861.

The second mint probably opened in the latter part of 1861, based on the relative rarity of the 1861 issue. The mintmark change to O (no a) was undoubtedly to identify the new mint. The mint operated, apparently continuously, from 1861 to 1864 maintaining the same Die Style and most likely using the same punches. All issues from this mint bear the assayer initials FR.

The Oaxaca 8 Reales of 1870

The 8 reales of 1870 has an interesting history. The Mint of Oaxaca minted 8 reales in 1869, but stopped doing so with the decree of 27 November 1867 in which President Benito Juárez implemented the decimal system in Mexico, ordering the minting of pesos and centavos. This mint, along with the one in Mexico City, was the first to mint Balance pesos in 1869. Later, with the decree of President Lerdo de Tejada on 30 May 1873, decimal coins were ordered stopped, so the system of reales was restored, and Oaxaca re-minted 8 reales in 1873.

In 1997, Antonio Deana Salmerón published an article on this coin{footnote}Antonio Deana Salmerón, "The So-called 8 Reales de Oaxaca Coin of 1870" in El Boletín Numismatico, 1997, available on the USMexNA online library{/footnote}. He recorded that Henry Christensen, a prominent dealer in Spanish-American coins in Madison, New Jersey, in compiling an inventory of 8 reales, listed a 8 Reales 1870 A.E. as belonging to the Pradeau collection. Pradeau{footnote}Pradeau{/footnote} himself illustrated the reverse of this coin in the fourth volume of his Numismatic History of Mexico and Utberg{footnote}{/footnote} also noted two examples of this date. On the other hand, Clyde Hubbard and Theodore Buttrey in their A Guide Book of Mexican Coins 1822 to date{footnote}{/footnote}) did not list the 1870 8 reales.

Deana Salmerón decided that the mint was producing Balance Scale pesos in 1870 and that the various examples of this coin were contemporary counterfeits. He notes that “a significant and most important detail is that the 1870 coin illustrated in Dr. Pradeau's book shows the Oa mint mark which was not used until 1873. If this coin had been struck at the Oaxaca Mint, it is logical to believe that the O alone would have been used as it was progressively from 1861 to 1869. This is of vital importance since it gives us the key to determine that this coin is a fake. Additionally, in 1870 it was not known that the mint was to return to the striking of 8 Reales. Consequently, no new logotype as mintmark had been designed. All this tells us that the counterfeiting of these coins must have been done after 1873 when the Oa mintmark was used."

The case of the Oaxaca 8 R 1870 is not the only one as there is the one peso 1870 San Luis Potosi with the initial "H" which never existed but was registered in special catalogs for more than 30 years as well as several 8 Reales from Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Mexico, San Luis Potosi and many others from other mints whose assayer initials never existed.

Introduction to the Medio Real Series

by Dave Busse

The medio real (½R) has long been a popular coin and researched by several different scholars in the field of Mexican numismatics. The outstanding works by Clyde Hubbard and David O’Harrow, Hookneck El Aguila de Perfil and the supplement Hookneck II are essential to any serious collector of that series and important to the ½R collector even though there is only one known issue of the Hookneck ½R, the Mo 1824 JM.

A total of either eleven or twelve different mints produced the ½R between 1824 and 1870. However, one of the intriguing aspects of the Republic ½R series is that despite the fact that small coins were essential Ito everyday commerce in 19th century Mexico only about half of those mints struck them in large numbers and/or with regularity. For those of you not familiar with the ½R even a cursory study of any catalog listing the ½R will show that Alamos and Estado de México produced the coin in only one year and the Chihuahua mint produced them in only two years. The single reported ½R from Alamos is dated 1862 and some controversy surrounds its authenticity (see further details below). Estado de México struck the coin only in 1829 even though it produced 8R in 1828, 1829 and 1830. Chihuahua struck the ½R only in 1844 and 1845 despite producing 8R from 1831 through 1895. This has been partially explained by some researchers who have reasoned that the Chihuahua 8R was struck, in the main, for export; and therefore the minors were not a priority. Another mint, Hermosillo, has only three reported dates – 1839 (not officially open then and there is some question as to its authenticity), 1862 and 1867. As far as we know; neither Catorce nor Oaxaca struck the ½R.

KM-372.7 ½r 1839 Ho PP

The above is the only ½R HO 1839 PP I have seen. Note the broken star and the retrograde N in MEXICANA. The owner was kind enough to send a scan, but I have not been able actually to examine the piece and therefore make no claims as to whether or not it is genuine.

The standard Republic ½R is 16 mm in diameter and has a Fineness of 90.027% silver with a base metal of copper. The edge design is referred to as ornamental. Fineness is expressed as “10 DS 20 GS” (with the DS and GS being abbreviations for Dineros and Granos) and found as part of the legend on the Cap side of the coin. Twelve Dineros is pure silver and each Dinero can be divided into 24 Granos. Thus 10 DS 20 GS is 10 of a possible 12 Dineros plus 20/24 of another Dinero (when added together it comes to nearly 11/12) and calculates (260 ÷ 288) to be 90.27% silver when converted to the decimal system. The obverse features the ancient Aztec symbol of victory; an eagle grasping a water snake in its beak and its left claw (from the observer’s point of view) while using the other leg to stand on a cactus that is rising out of Lake Texcoco. Below and to the right are laurel branches, leaves and berries, to the left are oak branches with leaves and acorns. The legend around the top half of the outer perimeter reads REPUBLICA MEXICANA. Sometimes there is a dot after MEXICANA and sometimes there is not. The reverse features a Phrygian Cap with the word LIBERTAD (Liberty) in block letters across its base. Extending out from behind the Cap are Rays. Thus, the design signifies the dawning of liberty (freedom from Spanish rule) in Mexico. The reverse legend reads “★ ½R • MM • date • assayer initials • fineness • ” for example a Guanajuato ½R minted in 1828 would read: ★½R • G^O • 1828 • J • M • 10 D^S • 20 G^S •. Note that this is the same format used by all denominations in the Cap and Rays series – this one as well as the 1R, 2R, 4R, and 8R. You should also be aware that there were several variances from mint to mint and even year to year within an individual mint such as no star, a six, seven or even eight pointed star instead of the normal five pointed one, irregular spacing in the legends, missing or improperly placed dots, reversed superscript “S” and even missing superscript “S“. In addition, there were over-dates, over-assayers, and re-punched stars, dots, mintmarks, dates, assayer initials, fineness numbers and letters which many collectors of the series find fascinating. Depending on how much detail one chooses to include in his/her collecting criteria, varieties can be almost endless as every separate set of dies, especially prior to 1854, was at least slightly different from those preceding and following. An interesting one is the number of berries and acorns in the wreath below the eagle. I have seen as many as six and as few as two. Some collectors use the term “Incomplete Wreath” to describe such a variety.

Mexico City is the only mint that struck a Hookneck ½R and all known examples bear the date 1824. It has always been a popular coin because of the Profile Eagle design and the fact that the style was used in only one year. The Facing Eagle style ½R specifications – diameter, weight, and fineness – remained the same as those of the Hookneck. Struck at either eleven or twelve different mints between 1825 and 1869 the ½R is one of the most popular coins for collectors specializing in the Republic of Mexico. As with the other denominations the ½R can usually be found in circulated condition rather easily and often for a pittance. However, you probably also know that there are some extremely rare mint date assayer combinations and aside from the more common (Mexico City, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas mints, all have at least a few years where large numbers were produced) and/or hoard coins, Uncirculated specimens are difficult to locate. I am convinced that the reason for this is that the ½R was essential to everyday commerce among the populace and therefore entered circulation quickly. The list below shows the mints and the years they struck the ½R.

Mint	Years Struck
Alamos	1862 (note controversy surrounds the one reported specimen, some authorities say it is genuine while others say it is not)
Chihuahua	1844-45
Culiacán	1846, 1848-49, 1852-54, 1856-58, 1860-63, 1867, 1869
Durango	1832-34, 1837, 1841-43, 1845-46, 1848-62, 1864, 1869
Estado de México (Tlalpan)	1829
Guadalajara	1825-26, 1828-32, 1834-35, 1837-62
Guadalupe y Calvo	1844-51
Guanajuato	1826-62, 1867-68, 1870
Hermosillo	1839, 1862, 1867
Mexico City	1824 (Hookneck)-36, 1838-63
San Luis Potosí	1831, 1841-63
Zacatecas	1826-63, 1869

 

The reason for not being specific as to the number of mints is that more than one notable numismatist believes the Alamos – ½R A 1862 P.G. – was never actually minted and that the one known example is not genuine. Note that Superior Stamp & Coin Company, in the Miguel Muñoz Sale II in June 1979, claimed that the 2R was the only minor minted at Alamos. Regardless of one’s position as to the authenticity of the coin, it is most unlikely that a collector will ever have the chance to own it, as it is thought to be a unique specimen. Thus, if you consider it genuine, you have to go into the medio real series knowing that in all likelihood you will not ever complete either a Type (by mint) or an MDA (Mint-Date-Assayer) set.

At this time, as far as we know, neither Catorce nor Oaxaca struck the ½R.

Die Styles

The die styles within the basic Type are fascinating to those of us bitten by the Mexican coin bug. One of the first issues to be addressed is that most catalogs and references refer to the Hookneck as a specific Type. I would argue that it is a Style rather than a Type. Obviously, whether one chooses to designate it a Type or a Style has no effect on the popularity or value of the Hookneck die style. The argument for calling it a die style is that it has the same basic design elements as any of the Facing Eagle style. For example it has the eagle grasping a snake in one talon and its beak while perched on a cactus that is rising out of Lake Texcoco. The lower half of the perimeter has oak branches, leaves and acorns to the left and laurel branches, leaves and berries to the right. The upper half of the perimeter has the legend REPUBLICA MEXICANA. On the Cap side it has the Liberty Cap with the word LIBERTAD across it with rays extending out from behind it. The Cap side legend reads – ★ ½R • MO 1824 • J • M • – so other than the fact that the eagle is facing on one and profile on the other and that there are some differences in the Cap I believe both the Hookneck and the Facing Eagle should be considered different styles of the same Type.

Hookneck Eagle style

Double struck example

Facing eagle style

Any of the mints that have fairly long production runs show a number of different die styles over time, and occasionally in the same year. Below are two examples:

Eagle of 1827                                                         Eagle of 1828/7

The first is a Mexico City 1827, while the second is Mexico City 1828/7. A simple examination reveals obvious differences including but not limited to:
• 1828 eagle is bigger and more robust
• Upper beak on 1827 has more of a hook to it
• No lower beak on the 1828
• Right wing is smaller and sharper on the 1827
• Snake’s upper body is noticeably closer to the top of the eagle’s head on the 1827
• Oak leaves on the 1828 are less defined (almost rounded like the laurel leaves)
• There are subtle but noticeable differences in the letters of the legend as well as how they were punched.

Obviously, most serious collectors can find additional differences, but my point is that one can see the difficulty that the die sinker had engraving/punching the dies by hand. Obviously, whenever a mint had to change dies because of wear, damage or some other reason, a new set of dies that had to be prepared by hand would be at least slightly different.

Interestingly, we can see that with rarer examples the die style does not always change. Compare the two Chihuahua ½R pieces below. I have studied both extensively “in the flesh” and as far as I can determine, the Eagle side and the Cap side dies are the same for both coins except the date was changed for the 1845 though I found no trace of an overdate. Due to the toning, some details were not picked up on the reproductions of the coins. By the way, those are the only two High Grade Chihuahua ½Rs of which I am aware.

KM-370.1 ½r 1844 Ca RG

KM-370.1 ½r 1845 Ca RG

Note that several of the rays on the 1845 are not quite as sharp as those on the 1844, whether that wasdue to wear on the dies, the strength of the strike or a combination of both has not yet been determined. The same applies to the wings on the Eagle side.

Varieties

Variety collectors can enjoy the ½R series as long as they choose to continue collecting. Three mints – Mexico City, Guanajuato and Zacatecas – produced many, many varieties and a high percentage of them were undoubtedly unintentional. That is not to say that some of the other mints did not also produce varieties, it is just that those three seem to have an abundance of them. That can probably be explained by the fact that Mexico City, Guanajuato and Zacatecas struck the largest numbers of the ½R. There are some well known and popular varieties including several over dates, over assayers, and errors. One of the first of what I consider to be a major error variety occurred at Guanajuato in 1828. That year there is an over date, 1828/7, plain date 1828, assayer initials MJ and MR. However, what is really interesting is that there is a combination denomination error 2/1 instead of ½ and mintmark error “G” only instead of a small “o” inside the opening of the G. Later we find a regular denomination but the “G” only remains even with the MR assayer. I have studied both the inverted denomination and the assayer MR with the “G” only and found traces of something inside the opening of the G, but cannot state definitively that it is the elusive missing “o” in either one. Unfortunately, I have never seen a High Grade (Extra Fine or better) example of either variety, so my conclusions remain somewhat speculative.

★ 2/1R • G•1828•M•J•

Close up of inverted denomination and G only mintmark

Another interesting variety from the Mexico City mint (it has been overlooked/unreported by standard references including the Clyde Hubbard and Theodore Buttrey, A Guidebook of Mexican Coins 1822 To Date, as well as the latest 2008 North American Coins & Prices A Guide to U. S., Canadian and Mexican Coins, 17th Edition from Krause Publications) is the MO 1841 ML which has two stars (★ ★) in the Cap side legend. By the way I am aware of one such coin in Mint state.

★ ★ ½R • Mo •1841• M • L• Two Stars variety

Yet another unmentioned one from Zacatecas is the ½R Z 1833 OM. First on the Cap side legend we have a six-pointed star - ★ - next we have a 2/1 that has been corrected to a ½, and lastly we have a large assayer initial M when compared to the assayer initial O and the rest of the legend. Keep in mind that the ½R mintmark for Zacatecas is a Z only through 1856. Also, the one pictured below is a Choice Mint state example so it will give the reader some idea of just how crude many of the early issues were.

★ ½R • Z .1833 • O • M • (Note large M assayer initial)

Close up of ½ over 2/1. The loop of 2 is plainly visible as it was not fully removed after the error had been noticed and “corrected.”

The author also thinks there is one from Hermosillo that is worthy of discussing, namely what is usually referred to as the overdate 67, 6/ inverted 6 and 7/1. While I agree that the 6 is over an inverted 6, the properly oriented 6 is more weakly defined than the inverted 6 to the point that some even think it is an inverted 6 over a normal 6. While that is interesting, what is even more so is the claim of 7/1. Even a cursory study shows that it is much more likely that the 7 is over a 2 rather than a 1. Compare the numeral that the 7 is punched over to the 1 that starts the date. The first 1 does not have a base on the “1” while the numeral under the 7 – if it is a 1 – has a wide base causing one logically to conclude that a different punch was used to make it. Thus, one can deduce that the 7 is over a 2 rather than a 1 without a base. A further argument that it is a 7/2 is that Hermosillo did not strike a ½R in 1861 while it did produce one is 1862 but none between 1862 and 1867. All examples of the 1862 that I know of are a plain date 1862. Interestingly, there is no argument that the assayer initials P and R are over the assayer initials FM and the 1862 issue has the assayer initials FM. Therefore, I would argue that the correct attribution should be 1867, 6/ inverted 6, 7/2 and PR/FM.

½R Ho 1867 PR 10 DS 20 GS “6 over inverted 6, 7/2, PR/FM”

Cap side enlarged to show detail better

Note incomplete legend, no star and close study shows no dots (those appearing to flank the date are not actually dots but dings caused by circulation). The legend is crude; the superscript O of the mintmark is not complete nor is it centred above the uprights of the H. The attempt at removing the inverted 6 was so poorly done that it appears to be over the properly oriented 6 which is high compared to the rest of the date; the numeral under the 7 more closely resembles a 2 than a 1: in fact there seems to be a slight roundness at the top of the 7 as well as a ball shaped piece under the left side of the horizontal part of the 7 resembling that on the 2 of 20 GS; thus the assertions that it is actually a 7/2. The PR/FM is weak but discernible. The indentation appearance between the 7 and the rays coming form the bottom of the cap is from clashed dies.

★ 1/1R • C.1861.P.V.

Here is a popular error variety struck at Culiacán (appears in more than one year). Note the denomination of 1/1R instead of a ½R (most catalogs say is it an 1 instead of a ½ but clearly it is a 1/1). Note also the very low Micro Star.

Alamos

For a consideration of the rarity of Alamos ½ real see here.

Chihuahua

For a consideration of the rarity of Chihuahua ½ reales see here.

Culiacán

For a consideration of the rarity of Culiacán ½ reales see here.

Durango

For a consideration of the rarity of Durango ½ reales see here.

Estado de México

KM-370.4 Estado de México ½ Real, 1829-EoMo LF (Stack’s Bowers auction, 13 February 2019, lot 71390)

For a consideration of the rarity of Estado de Mêxico ½ reales see here.

Guadalajara

For a consideration of the rarity of Guadalajara ½ reales see here.

Guadalupe y Calvo

For a consideration of the rarity of Guadalupe y Calvo ½ reales see here.

Guanajuato

For a consideration of the rarity of Guanajuato ½ reales see here.

Hermosillo

For a consideration of the rarity of Hermosillo ½ reales see here.

Mexico City

For a consideration of the rarity of Mexico City ½ reales see here.

San Luis Potosí

KM-370.10 ½ Real San Luis Potosí 1856 (Stack’s Bowers Auction, 21 October 2023, lot 71004)  

For a consideration of the rarity of San Luis Potosí ½ reales see here.

Zacatecas

For a consideration of the rarity of Zacatecas ½ reales see here.