First patriotic coins

Breaking from Spain, after the May revolution of 1810, produced profound political, social and economic changes in the recently formed “United Provinces of Río de la Plata”.

In 1813, after the victories of Tucumán and Salta, a new scenery opened up with the entry of the Northern Army, commanded by General Manuel Belgrano, to Potosí. On April 13th the Constitutional General Assembly of the Year 1813 enacted legislation for minting the First Patriotic Coins. The goal was to replace the coins issued by the Spanish Kingdom for new issues to substitute the Hispanic emblems with designs considered symbols of the revolution.

The first patriotic coins were called “escudos” minted in gold and “reales” minted in silver. They kept the same weight, value and purity of metal of the Spanish monetary system.

The first issue was short because after the battles of Vilcapugio and Ayohúma the revolutionaries were forced into retreat.

The designs on the obverse included a radiant sun with eyes, nose and mouth with the legend “Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata”. The sun represents the god Inti, the highest Incan deity.  Certainly, its inclusion reflects the assertion of all our cultural roots.

The reverse depicts the seal of the Constitutional General Assembly of the Year 1813, which would be later our national coat of arms design by the engraver and silversmith Juan de Dios Rivera from Potosí. It also includes the notably French influenced legend “En Unión y Libertad”.

In 1815, the army commanded by General José Rondeau recovered Potosí, renewing the patriotic issues that continued to be minted with the same designs.

On this occasion, only silver pieces called “reales” were issued, later the denomination was changed to “soles”. After the defeat in the battle of Sipe-Sipe, Rondeau was forced to leave the city. This time the loss of Potosí would be permanent.

The highest officials of the Mint had retreated with the Spanish army, consequently, it was necessary to resort to unexperienced operators. Therefore, the variety in the design details and specially the minting errors, particularly on the legends, where you can find words that haven’t been spaced properly, spelling mistakes, overlaps or omission of letters. Likewise, the patriotic coin production was minted with dies whose engravings were made in a short time, which was the consequence of these inaccuracies.  

The 2 “escudos” gold coin from 1813 is the most valuable and important piece of the collection donated by the numismatic Héctor Carlos Janson. It has now become part of our country’s heritage.

Just like all the other gold pieces, it was minted in the Mint of Potosí after General Manuel Belgrano entered the city.

There are only two pieces known with this value. The other one is owned by the Museum of “Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires”.