1820 Santa Marta, Royalist Siege Coinage. 1/4 Real, Copper.
Beseiged by Republican forces, the Royalists minted this necessity coinage.
Obverse: Crown, Castle, "1/4" denomination, sword, stack of cannon balls.
Diameter: 20 mm.
Introduction to Spanish Colonial Colombian Coins
Page 6
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1820 Santa Marta, Royalist Siege Coinage. 1/4 Real, Copper. Beseiged by Republican forces, the Royalists minted this necessity coinage. Obverse: Crown, Castle, "1/4" denomination, sword, stack of cannon balls. Diameter: 20 mm. |
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Reverse: Cross with "SM" (Santa Marta), sword, and cannon balls. |
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1822 Popayan mint 2 Reales. Mintmark "P", Assayer O. Ferdinand VII, with unusual Latin inscription "FERDND-7-DG ET CONST" which is short for "Ferdinand 7 De Gratia Et Constitution (by the Grace of God and Constitution). This was evidently in reference to the reactionary King Ferdinand VII being forced to reinstate the Constitution in Spain in 1820 - he had abolished the Consitution in 1814 after being restored to the throne upon the ouster of Joseph Bonaparte. This coinage was very crudely struck due to wartime conditions and shortages of proper minting equipment and trained personnel. Diameter: 27 mm. |
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| Some scholars believe that the "P" mintmark on this coin actually stands for Pasto, making this the first coin of Ecuador. In 1820 Pasto was a city in the newly organized Gran Colombia or United Provinces of Nueva Granada. It was not until 1830 that Ecuador withdrew from Simon Bolivar's visionary unified government for all of northernmost South America. |  |
Copyright © 2005 David W. Snow and the Willamette Coin Club