4 Reales National Congress - Insurgent coinage

The Supreme National Congress of America — convened at Chilpancingo in September 1813 — authorized this issue almost immediately after declaring independence from Spain that same November. It was among the first coinages struck under formal insurgent institutional authority rather than by local rebel commanders acting independently, marking a deliberate attempt by Morelos and his congress to project the legitimacy of a functioning state.

Production was primitive by necessity, struck at improvised mints under active military pressure. The .903 fineness was a conscious decision to match Spanish colonial standards — a political act as much as a metallurgical one.