Important Offering of Colombian Coins

Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 1739. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

COLOMBIA, Colonial. Felipe IV. King of Spain, 1621-1665. AV 2 Escudos (6.80 g, 6h). Nuevo Reino (Bogotá) mint; mm: A. Dated 1632-1642 (date not visible). Crowned coat of arms / Cross of Jerusalem within quadrilobe. Cf. ME 6639; KM 4.1; Friedberg 2. VF.

When the Spanish established the first permanent settlement in 1525 in what was to become present day Colombia, the region was already renowned as a source of incredible wealth. The local Zipa people spoke of the fabled El Dorado, or “the Golden One,” a myth which spurred on the conquistadors in their quest for wealth, and contributed to the eventual strong Spanish presence in the region. In 1549 the territory of New Granada was established. Along with New Spain to the north and Peru to the south, it comprised one segment of the vast Spanish holdings in their New World Empire. For the next century, huge amounts of wealth, particularly gold and silver, flowed from this area back to Spain. Some of this precious metal remained behind in local circulation, initially in the form of ingots. Although the establishment of viceroyalties in 1717 seemed to give these areas some autonomy, it was quite limited, as their leaders continued to be installed from Madrid. The same was true for the coinage of this period: its metrology and designs were closely linked to those of Spain.

Until its independence in 1819, the colony produced coinage in the names of the Spanish kings. Most of these coins were produced at one of Colombia’s principal mints, Bogotá and Popayán. The earliest Colombian issues, known as “cob coinage,” were generally crude, featuring odd-sized flans and frequently poor strikes. With the introduction of milled coinage in the late 18th century, the quality and consistency of Colombia’s coinage rose substantially. During the colonial period, Colombia experienced several rebellions and independence movements, but Spain was always able to quell the weakly organized resistance. By 1810, however, the tide began to turn against Spain. With the support of revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar, the city of Bogotá, along with the colony of Venezuela, officially declared independence. This initial rebellion was put down in 1812 by a Spanish military force assisted by royalists, colonists who opposed independence. During this period, several issues of siege coinage were produced, both by the royalists and the republicans, to support their operations in the cities of Santa Marta and Cartagena. By 1813, Bolívar reorganized, raised an army, and invaded Venezuela, thus beginning a back-and-forth battle between Spain that would last several more years. In an important battle in 1819, Bolívar pushed the remaining Spanish forces from Colombia and occupied Bogota. The following year, he founded the Republica de Colombia (known today as Gran Colombia to distinguish it from the current republic) which included the modern-day territory of Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. With its new government in place, Colombia now introduced its own currency system, with local types indicative of its new-found independence, including the Liberty cap, Indian head, cornucopia, and bust of the goddess Libertad. Although Gran Colombia eventually broke apart, with Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada (Panama) becoming independent republics, this currency system continued throughout the later states that eventually became the modern Republica de Colombia: Republica de Nueva Granada (1830-1859), Confederación Granadina (1858-1863), Estados Unidos de Nueva Granada (1861), and Estados Unidos de Colombia (1863-1886).