Spaniards in America In 1492, Christopher Columbus found a new world on his search for a shorter sea route to India. Although there is strong evidence that the Vikings arrived some 500 years before Columbus on the American Continent, the latter is commonly credited as discoverer of the Americas, because his voyages lead to permanent colonization and inhabitation by people of other cultures in historic times. Soon after the discovery, the Spaniards conquered the new territories. During the 16th century numerous missionaries followed to bring Christianity. This changed the life of the native population decisively. Henceforth it lived in new, Spanish-dominated kingdoms: in 1543, the viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico, Guatemala as well as parts of the USA) and Peru (all the Spanish colonies in South America plus Panama) were founded. In 1717, the viceroyalty of Peru was divided and the viceroyalty of New Granada (Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela and Panama) was formed. Eventually, in 1776, followed the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). 1 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Viceroyalty of New Spain, Philip V (1700-1746), Doubloon of 8 Escudos (Onza), 1737, Lima Denomination: Doubloon (Onza) Mint Authority: King Philip V of Spain Mint: Lima Year of Issue: 1737 Weight (g): 27.18 Diameter (mm): 30.0 Material: Gold Owner: Sunflower Foundation In 1538 the Spanish King Charles I enacted a law that forbade the minting of gold coins in the Spanish colonies of South America. This law was seriously followed and repealed only in 1675. In Lima, Peru, the first gold coin was struck in 1696. The images on the early Peruvian coins were so large that the legends were barely readable and often overlapped the coins. This defect made these coins very unpopular. This onza bears the castle of Castile and the lion of León on its obverse. The reverse shows a traditional Spanish image in a slightly modified form – the Pillars of Hercules rising from the sea. These two pillars symbolized the Strait of Gibraltar and thus the passage from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. 2 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Viceroyalty of New Spain, Philip V (1724-1746), Real de a ocho (Peso) 1738, Mexico City Denomination: Real de a ocho (Peso) Mint Authority: King Philip V of Spain Mint: Mexico City Year of Issue: 1738 Weight (g): 26.92 Diameter (mm): 38.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation Such pieces of 8 reales (Spanish: real de a ochos, so-called pesos) depicting the pillars of Heracles were minted in Mexico from local silver ores for the first time in 1732. They rapidly became an internationally accepted currency. Most of the coins minted in the Spanish colonies were made from silver, and only about 4 percent were gold or bronze coins. In the years between 1537 and 1888, the Mexican mints struck approximately about 3 billion pesos. These coins, known as Spanish milled dollars or, referring to their picture, as pillar dollars, circulated in North America until the middle of the 19th century. 3 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Spanish Colonial Empire, Viceroyalty of Peru, Ferdinand VI (1746-1759), Real de a ocho (Peso) 1754, Lima Denomination: Real de a ocho (Peso) Mint Authority: King Ferdinand VI of Spain Mint: Lima Year of Issue: 1754 Weight (g): 27.13 Diameter (mm): 40.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation The real de a ocho, the 8-reales coin, later known as peso, was minted in 1732 in Mexico for the first time. In Spanish colloquial it was known as "real fuerte culumnario," i.e. as pillar dollar, and in German as Säulenpiaster. These names all refer to the image on the reverse of the coin: the two pillars of Heracles rising out of the sea, flanked by the hemispheres of the Old and the New Worlds. The peso took the world economy by assault. For about 20 years it was minted only in Mexico. But in 1754 it was reproduced in the mint of Lima, Peru, and some years later in that of Potosí. Geographically, both cities directed towards the Pacific Ocean. The peso was used in trade with Asia thus and became the forerunner of the Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen. In North America, the peso was a popular trading coin as well and hence became the forerunner of the modern US dollar. 4 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Chinese Empire, Real de a ocho (Peso) 1808 with Countermarks Denomination: Real de a ocho (Peso) Mint Authority: King Charles III of Spain Mint: Undefined Year of Issue: 1808 Weight (g): 26.22 Diameter (mm): 39.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation One coin, two nations: the peso shown here was minted in 1808 in Potosí, the most productive of all Spanish mints in South America. As an international trade coin, the coin spread as far as China, where no less than twelve different silver inspectors stamped it with their marks. By doing so, they approved of the silver, legitimated the circulation of the foreign coin in their area and made it clear that it had to be accepted as a means of payment. Though, the silver inspectors did not know that with their counterstamps they were heavily influencing the Chinese monetary history. Nevertheless these countermarks are the first step to China's national currency, the yuan, which was the Chinese version of the Spanish peso. 5 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Empire of Mexico, Augustín I (1822-1823), Real de a ocho (Peso) 1823 Denomination: Real de a ocho (Peso) Mint Authority: Emperor Augustín I of Mexico Mint: Mexico City Year of Issue: 1823 Weight (g): 26.85 Diameter (mm): 40.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation Mexico gained independence fram Spain in 1821, and, after a short intermezzo under Emperor Augustín de Itúrbide, became a republic in 1824. Emperor Augustín I, as Itúrbide called himself after his takeover, introduced as Mexican currency the peso modeled after the Spanish archetype. The mints in Mexico City had been minting millions of pesos in the name of the Spanish kings since 1535. Now, Mexico started to issue pesos in its own name. The coin motif showed an eagle sitting on a nopal plant growing out of a rock in the sea. This pesos became soon known as eagle dollar all over the world. 6 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Republic of Bolivia, 8 Soles 1827, Potosí Denomination: 8 Soles Mint Authority: Republic of Bolivia Mint: Potosí Year of Issue: 1827 Weight (g): 26.91 Diameter (mm): 39.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation LIBRE POR LA CONSTITUCION, "Free thanks to the Constitution" – the short legend on this first Bolivian 8-soles coin from 1827 comprises 300 years of history dominated by Spain. With the issue of this coin this epoch of colonization irrevocably came to an end, and the first page in the chapter of Bolivian history was opened. In 1809, the first rebellions arose against Spanish power. The South American colonies were determined. "Independence from all European rulers" was the motto. Individual regions fought for their autonomy step by step. First separated Paraguay in 1811, then Peru in 1821, and finally Bolivia in 1825. The portrait on this coin shows the driving force behind the independence of the latter: the daring general Simón Bolívar (*1783, †1830), in whose honor Bolivia was named. 7 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Republic of Argentina, 1 Argentino or 5 Pesos 1886 Denomination: Argentino (5 Pesos) Mint Authority: Republic of Argentinia Mint: Undefined Year of Issue: 1886 Weight (g): 8.07 Diameter (mm): 23.0 Material: Gold Owner: Sunflower Foundation The Argentinean people had to fight long and hard for its independence. After the French Revolution of 1789, revolutionary ideas from France sparked off a movement of independence in South America. Argentina, however, gained independence from Spain only in 1853, more than sixty years later. French ideas also had strong influence on Argentinean coinage. 1 Argentine peso corresponded to 5 French francs, so that this golden argentino of 5 pesos was worth 25 francs. Moreover Libertad, the personification of freedom on the obverse, strongly resembles the French Liberty. Both wear Phrygian caps, the emblem of liberty par excellence. The fashion harks back to antique Phrygia in Asia Minor, where freed slaves had worn caps with their tops pulled forward. A modern successor is the beret that Basque freedom fighters wear up to this day. The Phrygian cap appears again on the reverse of the coin; this time it is stuck over the spearhead in the centre of the Argentinean coat of arms. This is a reminiscence of how freedom in Argentina was gained, namely by force. The hands underneath the cap symbolize the oath on the republican constitution. 8 von 10 www.sunflower.ch Republic of Colombia, 5 Pesos 1925, Medellín Denomination: 5 Pesos Mint Authority: Republic of Colombia Mint: Medellín Year of Issue: 1925 Weight (g): 8 Diameter (mm): 20.0 Material: Gold Owner: Sunflower Foundation Simón Bolívar (*1783, †1830), who is depicted on this coin, was one of the leaders in the Colombian fight for independence. After the expulsion of the Spaniards, he became the first president of the Republic of Great Colombia, a federation of Colombia and Venezuela. Three years later, Ecuador joined the union, which disintegrated after a civil war into the republics of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador already in 1830, however. In 1907, Colombia enacted a monetary reform, by which the gold standard was introduced. A new golden peso was issued, equaling exactly 1/5 of a British sovereign. The 5-peso piece shown here thus corresponded one sovereign, the major trade coin of the British Empire at that time – a great advantage for trade with the British Commonwealth.