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| Issuer | Guadalajara Mint, Spanish Colonial Administration (Mexico) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1813 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Ferdinand VII facing right, wearing a military uniform with an ornate lace cravat and decorative order at the chest, rendered in high relief with fine engraving typical of the Guadalajara Royalist coinage. The portrait is bold and slightly crude in style, reflecting the emergency conditions under which the Guadalajara Mint operated during the Mexican War of Independence. The date 1813 appears in the lower exergue flanking the bust. The surrounding legend reads FERDIN•VII•D•G••HISP•ET IND•R•, inscribed in Latin along the inner border, within a toothed outer rim. |
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| Mintage | 1813 GA MR |
| Additional information |
The Guadalajara mint struck royalist gold during some of the most violent years of the Mexican War of Independence, operating under constant pressure from insurgent forces that had already disrupted or seized other colonial mints. This particular issue belongs to a series intended as much to demonstrate Crown authority as to fulfill any practical monetary function — gold coinage in a colony bleeding men and silver was a political act.
Guadalajara's 8 escudos from this period are notoriously inconsistent in their planchet quality, a direct consequence of disrupted supply chains and improvised assay conditions. The assayer initials on the coin identify which official was legally liable for the fineness.