1/4 Real

Guatemala's mint operated under Spanish colonial authority through this entire period, but the years bracketing this issue were anything but stable — the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808 severed reliable communication with the crown, forcing colonial mints to make administrative decisions largely on their own initiative. Production continued with minimal interruption, which itself reflects how deeply embedded the quarter real had become in everyday small transactions across Central America.

The type bridges two catalog numbers because the transition from colonial to independent Guatemalan authority in 1821 required a change in issuing sanction, not a change in the coin itself.