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4 Pesos Rafael Carrera
| Issuer | Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861-1862 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Unadorned bare head of Rafael Carrera facing right, rendered in high relief with finely detailed hair and sideburn, occupying the center of the field. A circumferential legend reads RAFAEL CARRERA PTE DE LA R. DE GUATEMALA around the upper and lower periphery, separated from the rim by a toothed or beaded border. The engraver's signature FRENER F. appears incuse at the base of the neck truncation, attesting to the work of Munich-trained die-sinker Johann-Baptist Frener. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Rafael Carrera ruled Guatemala as a largely self-appointed strongman — formally as president, then as president-for-life from 1854 — and the gold coinage struck under his regime reflects the chronic instability of Central American monetary affairs following independence from Spain. The 4 Pesos denomination sits in a short-lived series; Carrera's death in 1865 ended the political order that sustained it.
The .875 fineness matches the traditional Spanish colonial gold standard, a deliberate continuity with pre-independence coinage that Carrera's conservative government favored for both economic and symbolic reasons.