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4 Reales Rafael Carrera
| Issuer | Guatemala |
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| Year | 1867-1869 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed bust of Rafael Carrera facing left, rendered in high relief with finely engraved hair and pronounced facial features including a short beard. The circumferential legend reads R. CARRERA FUNDADOR DE LA RA DE GUATEMALA, abbreviating his title as Founder of the Republic of Guatemala. The engraver's signature FRENER appears in small capitals at the base of the neck truncation, a characteristic feature of Johann-Baptist Frener's medallic work. The field is smooth and unadorned, directing full attention to the portrait effigy. The coin is bordered by a continuous reeded or beaded rim. |
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| Mintage | 1867 - - 54,072 1868 - - 36,011 1869 - - |
| Additional information |
Rafael Carrera, the illiterate mestizo general who ruled Guatemala for the better part of three decades, died in office in April 1865 — yet coins bearing his name continued to be struck for years afterward under his successor Vicente Cerna, who maintained the Carrera-era monetary types rather than immediately issuing his own. This issue falls squarely within that transitional period, when Cerna's government was consolidating power against liberal opposition and had little political incentive to spend resources redesigning the coinage.
Guatemala's mint at Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción was notoriously inconsistent during this period, and the .903 fineness specified was not always reliably achieved in practice.