Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | United Provinces of Nueva Granada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1819 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Crowned head of Liberty facing left, wearing a feathered or turreted crown and with long flowing hair rendered in fine parallel lines. The allegorical bust is unadorned and presented in profile, occupying the central field in a style typical of early Colombian Republican coinage. The surrounding circular legend reads LIBERTAD AMERICANA with the date 1819 appearing in the lower exergual area between two dots. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | LIBERTAD AMERICANA 1819 |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The United Provinces of Nueva Granada — a loose confederation of provinces that had declared independence from Spain in 1811 — were functionally collapsing by the time this coin was struck. Spanish royalist forces under Pablo Morillo had spent years reconquering the region in what patriots called the Reconquista, and 1819 itself was the year Bolívar's campaign across the Andes culminated at the Battle of Boyacá in August, ending Spanish control for good. Coinage from this specific juncture is rare precisely because the minting authority was fighting for its existence.
The .666 fineness reflects wartime compromise — full silver alloy was a luxury the confederation could not reliably sustain.