1/4 Real 'Cuartillo' with three stars

Popayán's mint, the only one operating continuously in what is now Colombia from the colonial period through the nineteenth century, issued these fractional pieces during the Granadine Confederation's final years before the 1863 Rionegro Constitution reorganized the country as the United States of Colombia. The three-star variety corresponds to specific die combinations documented by Hernández — not a single consistent issue but a cluster of related dies used across the four-year window, which explains the multiple catalog references.

At 0.85 grams in debased .666 silver, these circulated hard in a region where small change was chronically scarce. Survivors show it.