The Guerrero 1914 Dos Pesos “Sur”, of the Ejército Libertador del Sur
by David Hughes
One of Verne Walrafen’s favorite mystery coins was a boldly reengraved Guerrero 1914 Dos Pesos that included a “SUR” in the sun. He obtained this piece, considered by him an important new discovery, from an old collection sold by Jess Peters in April 1975. Verne pictured it multiple times in his Mexican Revolution Reporter (MRR), 1976 to 1982, in illustrations, seeking information, and even offering to sell it once. It was an unusual fully-struck coin, 27.03 grams, distinctive. Details were heavily reengraved over an existing die, with SUR (south) set in the sun face. The eagle die was in an incredibly late die state. He was always wondering, any story behind this possibly unique coin? In this article, I am presenting the start and finish of these dies, and mention a few ideas on the origin of this enigmatic piece.
The Dies
The GB sun die B originated on GB-210, die combination (1/B). It was next used on GB-212 (2/B). Plate 1/ left, shows the sun die on GB-212, which makes an attractive type coin of the series when in a nice strike and planchet.
At some point the sun die clashed with the eagle die, resulting in clash marks in the rays. Sun die B was subsequently heavily reengraved (Plate 1, right). Angel Smith notes the reengraving was crudely made, possibly with a screwdriver or a knife, by running it through the lettering and rays so as to widen the details. The resulting letters are bold and enlarged (in the first Y of JUSTICIA Y LEY, you can see the original serif on the foot of the letter Y now bisecting the new stem of the Y), with heavy rays and additional volcano smoke. The sun face appears to be a punch made for the job Incuse eyes and SUR lettering would be difficult to engrave on a die, especially with a screwdriver or a knife., impressing the design into the die. The resulting sun is heavily modified, larger, with low incuse eyes and “SUR” added above the eyes. The SUR appears to be in the die. There are no indications of a counterstamp, such as sharp (punched) edges or flattened reversesI have not examined the coin under the microscope, but under 10x handlens.. The SUR was eliminated on the latest strikes.
Plate 1. Sun die “B”, GB-212 (left), later heavily modified GB-UNL SUR (right)
Plate 2. Eagle die 2, GB-212 (left), late die state GB-UNL SUR (right).
The GB eagle die 2 originated on the die combination (2/B), GB-212 (Plate 2, left). Die 2 was subsequently used on the scarce GB-211 (2/A). During the GB-211 striking, the dies clashedThis shows GB-211 was struck after GB-212., resulting in sun rays superimposed on the eagle (the so-called Radiant eagle, also noted on some reales coins of the República). The eagle die, especially the rim area at the top, appears to be modified (tool marks[?] suggest it was chipped, but not dressed) for reengraving which never occurred, or die shaping to continue use after clashing. This modification appears on the clashed GB-211 and continues during the striking of the GB-UNL (2/D). The (2/D) variety typically appears as a poor strike on lighter planchets (mass of two examples: 21.30 grams and 23.42 grams), and is rarely found struck up. The eagle strike on the SUR piece (Plate 2, right) is likely the most complete strike of the latest die state known.
Richard Long noted, in his auction catalogue description of the SUR in the Walrafen sale Long, Mail Auction Sale #95, Walrafen Sale, Richard Long, Langlois, OR, November 2004, that he felt he had seen this strike or a similar piece somewhere. The final version of this die combination does not have the SUR in the sun die.
There were two later strike pieces without SUR in the 1996 Cortina sale Long, Mail Auction Sale #79, Cortina Sale, Richard Long, Langlois, OR, October 1995, one of these a plate photo in Amaya Amaya, Tricolor Compendium of Mexican Revolutionary Coinage, Carlos Amaya, Monterey, Mexico, 2015 as A-GO-151). Angel Smith has subsequently turned up a third piece, along with a uniface sun die example.
The Timing
The early Guerrero 1914 2-Pesos strikes are heavier than the later strikes. The late 1914 strikes appear to end with GB-218, with one example massing 14.75 grams Even lighter strikes are reported. Angel has seen one at around 12 grams, well over 10 grams lighter than earlier strikes. Subsequent 1915 Zapatista mint activities had smaller outputs of silver coins and larger issues of copper (base metal) coins.
Sun die D or its predecessor was used on multiple 2-Pesos varieties: GB-213, GB-214, and GB-UNL (2/D), therefore suggesting (2/D) was struck later in the series. As noted above, the SUR strike, using eagle die 2, was adjacent to the GBUNL (2/D). Both were apparently struck prior to the always poorly struck and light weight GB-218.
The Strike
The die pairing was a reengraved die with a usable eagle die. By probable accident, or being the only available eagle die, they used the original pairing of GB-212, but it is tough to call the GB-UNL SUR a GB-212-VAR. The planchet was punched out of a cast and rolled strip (Richard Long called it a cast planchet), and superficial casting pits, impurities or pecks are obvious in the SUR photos. The SUR planchet is a respectable 27.03 grams; subsequent strikes without the SUR are 26.79 grams and 23.46 grams (ex-Cortina, in Long, 1996), and 25.8 grams (Angel Smith). The reeded edge matches other Guerrero 2-Pesos. The ring is the same as a GB-UNL (2/D): possibly, the same batch (alloy) of silver was used in striking the SUR and the (2/D). The SUR piece was reeded and struck in a Zapatista mint, struck hard to bring up the relief, with a medal rotation die alignment. The SUR appears to be a significant variety in the Guerrero 2-Pesos series.
The Origin
The SUR strongly suggests the Liberation Army of the South (Ejercito Libertador del Sur), the Zapatistas of General Emiliano Zapata. The “new” engraving, mass and complete strike suggest a presentation piece or a pattern. It could be considered a mint sport, except that more than a few were struck, including possible circulation (softer) strikes. Edge taps and pecks on the SUR show it was carried around or circulated. The uniface example is probably smoothed on the eagle side, notes Angel.