Mexico's mints

The new Mexican government attempted to give some uniformity to the coinage and on 1 August 1823 a law^{[text needed]} ordered all mints to only use the dies made in the Mexican Mint. On 4 August 1824 a law[text needed] granted the states authorization to create mints and to receive income derived from their operation. To supervise the quality of minting, Congress determined in Article 50 of the Constitution that all coins must have the same weight, grade, value, type and denomination.

Thereafter, Congress allowed the opening of several mints in the Republic in 1824.

However, leasing to private companies proved to be uneconomic{footnote}For instance, during the lease of the Guadalupe y Calvo mint to the Compañía Minera de Guadalupe y Calvo the government lost $267,563.96, plus tax exemption; from 1825 to 1842, during the lease of the Guanajuato mint to the Cia. Mexicana de Casa de Moneda, the government lost $360,071.18 in the first five years and eight months alone; and from 1842 to 1847 in its lease of the Zacatecas mint to the Cia. Anglo-Americana de Casas de Monedas (Manning & Marshall) the government lost $332,036.21{/footnote}and a loss of opportunities.

In his 1870 Treasury Report, Matías Romero explained:

The greatest obstacle to the promotion of national mining was the pernicious system of leasing mints, since this had turned them into highly productive speculative establishments, which prevented the implementation of indispensable measures: silver could not be exported in paste, nor could the cost of coinage be reduced, nor could the monopoly of set-aside be freed. …. It may be said, without exaggeration, that the leases of the mints have been tantamount to drowning the principal industry of the nation in its cradle, for the benefit of a few individuals and at the expense of the largest and most important interests of the Republic.

So when Benito Juárez came to power in 1867 he decided that the mints should be controlled by a central authority. His successor in 1872, Lerdo de Tejada, continued with his policy, recovering one by one all the mints in the power of private individuals, so in the period from 1867 to 1876 (almost all the mints of the Republic were recovered.

On 16 September 1875, the Secretary of the Treasury, Francisco Mejía, submitted his report to the Congress of the Union in which he mentioned that the administration of the mints by the government would provide one million pesos in taxes that had not previously been received.

The problem came in 1876 when Porfirio Díaz rose in revolt. He urgently needed resources so he decided to re-lease all the mints to private individuals in exchange for loans. From 1876 onwards, the vast majority of mints returned to private hands. A law of 12 December 1879 (repealing the previous law)^{[text needed]} allowed the lease of mints to individuals, although even before its issue, the mints of Guanajuato, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí were illegally leased.

Two businesses owned several mints. The Mackintosh family's Anglo-Mexican Company and its offshoots and Robert Symon's Compañía Limitada Central together produced more than 85% of the country's gold and silver production during the entire lease period.

By 1888 Díaz had managed to stabilize his power and the nation, and in that same year he signed the last extension for the lease of mints.. That same year, negotiations began for the government to recover all the mints, arguing that it was detrimental to the public interest.

In 1892 Matías Romero again took the position of Secretary of Finance and with the support of Díaz sent to Congress on 2 December 1892 a proposal to end all lease contracts. One of the arguments that Matías Romero used was the fall in silver prices that little by little affected the finances of the mining business and the government. Another point was the consolidation of paper money, and finally he added that the railway network made the existence of so many mints unnecessary since now it was possible to transport currency to any corner of the country.

His proposal was approved and from 1893 all contracts were cancelled and all tenants were indemnified (since some contracts had an end date after 1893). Finally, on 30 June 1895, a decree by President Porfirio Díaz, promoted by the Secretary of the Treasury, José Yves Limantour, terminated all leases of the Mexican mints. On 15 July 15 of the same year, Congress approved a decree by which only the mints of Mexico City, Culiacán, Guanajuato and Zacatecas would remain open, with the last three remaining under the disposition of the parent mint, that of Mexico City. In 1900 the Guanajuato mint was closed, leaving in its place only an assay office, on March 31 Zacatecas and Culiacán were also closed, leaving an assay office in both. From that day on, only the Mexico City Mint remained in operation.

Culiacán mintage

The figures up to 1870 are from Anales del Ministerio de Fomento, México, l881, p.627,  the figures from 1871 to 1905 from the Memoria de la Secretaría de Hacienda of the corresponding year.
 
 
 

Francisco Lelo de Larrea, Forgotten Assayer of the Tlalpan Mint

by Adrián González Salinas

In 1957, Alberto Pradeau published his great book Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950, volume I{footnote} Alberto Francisco Pradeau. Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950. Tomo I. Edición Patrocinada por la Sociedad Numismática de México. 1957{/footnote}, and on page 503 wrote the following information related to the assayers of the Tlalpan mint.

ENSAYADORES: Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, ensayador propietario; Franscisco Parodi, segundo ensayador propietario; Luis Parodi, primer suplente; Manuel Onofre Parodi, segundo suplente,
GRABADORES: Manuel Araos.
                         Miguel Ramírez.

Also, on the same page, Pradeau concludes the following regarding the L.F. assayers of the E°M° mint: Las inciales L.F. que aparecen en la moneda acuñada en esta ceca, corresponden a los nombres de pila de D. Luis Velazquez de la cadena y de D. Francisco Parodi Pagani (The initials L.F. that appear on the coins minted at this mint (E°M°) correspond to the first names of Luis Velázquez de la Cadena and Francisco Parodi Pagani.)

And finally, on page 507, the list of assayers (ensayadores) of the E°M° mint changes:

ENSAYADORES: D. Luis Velázquez de la Cadena,
                          D. Francisco Pagani, (sic)
                          D. Luis Varela,
                          D. Francisco Lelo de Larrea,
                          D. Manuel Onofre Parodi,
                          D. Antonio de la Portilla.

As the reader can see, Alberto Pradeau listed seven different assayers for the State of Mexico mint: Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, Francisco Parodi (and later writes it as Francisco Pagani, concluding that it was Francisco Parodi Pagani), Luis Parodi, Manuel Onofre Parodi, Luis Valera, Francisco Lelo de Larrea and finally Antonio de la Portilla.

Since then, all authors who published numismatic books and articles (both from Mexico and the USA) related to the coinage of the E°M° mint (1828-1830) continued to repeat Francisco Parodi Pagani{footnote} The only Francisco Pagani I could locate was born in Mexico City on 14 October 1792, and was the son of the Italian Luis Pagani Zanona and María Antonia Rodríguez Zenteno from Mexico City.{/footnote} as the second assayer of this mint, which is totally wrong.

While looking for genealogical information about the only assayer who appears on all the coins minted by the Guadalupe y Calvo (G.C.) mint in the state of Chihuahua, Manuel Parodi (M.P.){footnote}Manuel Onofre Parodi Ortiz (Zimapán, Hidalgo, ca. 1810-1811 – Culiacán, Sinaloa, 11 February 1875) was an assayer at the mints of the State of Mexico (1828-1830), Guadalupe y Calvo (1843-1851), Culiacán (1854), Hermosillo (1866), and again in Culiacán (1871-1874). In the Mexican newspaper El Monitor Republicano No. 3,916, dated 1 May 1871, there is a note from the State Secretariat and the Office of Finance and Public Credit appointing him assayer at the Oaxaca State Mint, a position he never actually held, demonstrating the significant disorganization within the Mexico’s mints. He is one of the very few assayers who worked in four different mints in the Mexican Republic.{/footnote} I located, by pure serendipity, the marriage certificate of Francisco Lelo de Larrea where it is specified that he was an assayer at the Tlalpan mint.

Evidence that Francisco Lelo de Larrea was the second assayer of the E°M° Mint

Evidence # 1 (Year of 1827)

In the Mexico City newspaper El Sol of 25 December 1827 a list appears of the managers and employees working at that time at the State of Mexico Mint.

Luis Velázquez de la Cadena appears as First Assayer, Francisco Lelo de Larrea as Supernumerary Assayer{footnote}A supernumerary employee is used to fill temporary vacancies or to carry out activities of a purely transitory nature.{/footnote}, and Francisco Pagani as First Treasury Officer. This notice appeared exactly four months and two days before operations began at the State of Mexico Mint.

Evidence # 2 (Year of 1829)

Marriage certificate of Francisco Lelo de la Larre{footnote}Francisco Lelo de Larrea was baptized in the Church of Santo Domingo in what is now the municipality of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, on 22 September 1804, with the name Francisco de Paula María de Jesús Josef Agustín Ygnacio Joaquín Mariano Judas Tadeo Lelo de Larrea Terán. Francisco Lelo de Larrea died in Mexico City on 4 March 1871{/footnote} with María Dolores de Rosas, celebrated in Tlalpan on 11 September 1829, where Luis Velázquez de la Cadena and Manuel Parodi both appear as witnesses. Both the groom and the two witnesses indicate that they were assayers at the Tlalpan Mint.

En la Ciudad de Tlalpam a once de Setiembre de mil ochocientos veinte y nueve ante mí el Lic. Don Francisco Patiño cura propio de esta Parroquia compareció Don Francisco Lelo, Ensayador de la Casa de Moneda de esta capital, á fin de contraer matrimonio con Doña María Dolores de Rosas y estando precente le recibí […] (In the City of Tlalpan, on the eleventh of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, before me, Licentiate Don Francisco Patiño, priest of this Parish, appeared Don Francisco Lelo, Assayer of the Mint of this capital, in order to contract marriage with Doña María Dolores de Rosas, and being present, I received him […])

First witness for the couple getting married. […] In the same act: before me, the undersigned priest, the couple getting married presented as their witness a man whom I know, who stated his name was Don Luis Velásquez de la Cadena, Assayer of this Mint, a native of […]

Second witness for the couple getting married. […] En el mismo día: ambos contrayentes precentaron por su testigo a un hombre á quién fé conosco que expresó llamarse Don Manuel Onofre Parodi Ensayador de esta Casa de Moneda […] ([…] On the same day: the couple getting married presented as their witness a man whom I know, who stated his name was Don Manuel Onofre Parodi, Assayer of this Mint […])

Signature of the second Assayer of State of Mexico Mint (Francisco Lelo de Larrea)

Evidence # 3 (Year of 1830)

Again, in the Mexico City newspaper El Sol of 11 June 1830, a note dated 9 June 1830 was published by employees of the Tlalpan mint (when its closure had already been authorized), listing the assayers Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, Francisco Lelo de Larrea, and Manuel Parodi. Francisco Pagani does not appear in that note.

Evidence # 4 (Year of 1832)

Also, on the front page of El Sol of 6 January 1832, a note was published in which Francisco Lelo de Larrea, Manuel Parodi, and Luis Velázquez de la Cadena request to be declared unemployed by the Federation (Federal Government). The three assayers from the now-defunct Tlalpan Mint appear together again.

Why was Pradeau wrong?

Alberto Pradeau documented a lot of names while working on his monumental three-volume work, Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950 (plus another fourth volume of plates and illustrations), which inherently led to errors. Francisco Parodi Pagani does not actually exist. It is likely that while working on the chapter of his book about the E°M° mint, Pradeau confused and mixed up the names of different people. As can be seen in the list of managers and employees of the Tlalpan mint (1827), Francisco Pagani worked as treasurer and subsequently disappears from newspaper records, leading to the conclusion that he engaged in other activities outside the Tlalpan mint.

See also “State of Mexico Mint (1828-1830)” presented by Adrián González Salinas at the Sociedad Numismática de México, 8 July 2024.

Issues of the Estado de México mint

Half real

Diameter 16 mm., 1.69 g., 0.90277 silver.  

KM 370.4 ½ Real 1829 (Stack's Bowers Baltimore auction, March 2011, lot 8132)

One real

Diameter 20 mm., 3.38 g., 0.90277 silver.  

KM-372.3 1 Real 1828 (Stack’s-Bowers auction of Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72304)

Two reales

Diameter 22 mm., 6.76 g., 0.90277 silver.  

KM-374.5 2 Reales 1828 (Stack’s-Bowers auction of Kirk Menczer Collection, 24 June 2026, lot 73037) 

Eight reales

Diameter 39 mm., 22.07 g., 0.90277 silver. The 8 reales was produced in 1828, 1829 and the first half of 1830. 

KM-377.5 8 Reales 1828 (Stack’s-Bowers auction 16 January 2026, lot 41099)

KM-377.5 8 Reales 1829 (Stack's Bowers Baltimore auction, November 2010, lot 6276)

KM-377.5 8 Reales 1830 (Stack’s-Bowers auction, 26 August 2025, lot 41399)

As the mint only operated until July of 1830, the coins struck with the 1830 date are most elusive within this already challenging series. An overdate 1830 over 1820 is known.

KM-377.5 8 Reales 1830/20 (Stack’s-Bowers Baltimore auction, 4 November 2010, lot 6277)

Two escudos

Diameter 23 mm., 6.77 g., 0.8750 gold 

KM-380.2 2 Escudos 1828 (Stack’s-Bowers auction, 6 August 2020, lot 21476)

Eight escudos

Diameter 37 mm., 27.07 g., 0.8750 gold. The 8 escudos coin was minted in 1828 and 1829. 

[image needed]
KM 383.4 8 Escudos 1829

KM 383.4 8 Escudos 1829 (lot 31253, Heritage Long Beach auction, September 2014)