Patterns from Latin America

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Nicaragua, pattern centavo, 1860.

Here is a nice pattern coin from Nicaragua dated 1860.

Note the misspelling of centavo.

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Brazil, pattern 40 reis, 1889.

An attractive 40 reis pattern from Brazil, dated 1889.

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Mexico, pattern ¼ real (quartilla) of 1836.

The snake and eagle design is superb.

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Chile, 5 pesos pattern, circa 1938.

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Chile, 1926, 5 pesos pattern.

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Argentina, 1 centavo pattern, 1935.

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Brazil, 1990, 1 cruzado novo pattern.

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Haiti, 20 centavos pattern, 1877.

Mercury head with winged helmet.

The initials C.T. possibly stand for Clemente Toretti, who created the 1870 Cuban Patterns.

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Argentina: Aravcania and Patagonia (New France).

2 Centavos Pseudo Pattern, 1874.

I've never heard of a pseudo-pattern before.

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Puerto Rico, pattern 10 centimos, 1890.

From Coin Archives:

Spanish Colonial copper Pattern 10 Centimos 1890, Barcelona Mint, KM-Pn1, Gould-Higgie 106, SP65 Red Brown PCGS. The first coin with the Puerto Rico legend. References about this rare pattern are scant, and a definitive explanation of the presence of the Cuban coat of arms on a Puerto Rican issue has never been put forward. However, the article "Riles: A clue to the Economic History of Nineteenth Century Puerto Rico" (published by Victor Torres in 1983 and referenced by L. Rodriguez Vazquez in "Puerto Rico Coffee and Sugar Cane Plantation tokens") mentioned evidence in the General Archives of Puerto Rico pointing to this being a private issue from a local Spanish wealthy businessman.

This private pattern was purportedly struck in Barcelona (hence the 8-pointed stars flanking the date on the obverse, a fact correctly mentioned in 1964 by Ed Roehrs) and shown to the Foreign Minister of Spain to obtain the concession to issue a provincial coinage for Puerto Rico. At the time almost all of the circulating coinage in Puerto Rico was foreign, mostly Mexican or from the United States. The legends on the reverse * DIEZ CENTIMOS * CIEN PIEZAS EN KILOG. mirror the ones of the 1870 copper Spanish issues, which were familiar in Puerto Rico as evidenced by the extant specimens privately countermarked for use in local haciendas. The rising sun motif can also be found in many Puerto Rican tokens of the period, such as the ones of La Honradez de Joy y Mayol, or the Canals de las Marias to name two.

The identity of the wealthy Spaniard remains unknown but we must wonder if he had any connections to the Banco de Puerto Rico. Indeed, one of the main obstacles faced by this institution after its authorization in 1888 was the fact that its guaranteeing capital would have to be constituted in local or Spanish coinage, instead of the widely circulating Mexican one: as a result, instead of the authorized 1,500,000 pesos, only 375,000 were finally gathered (see "Memoria leída en la Junta general de accionistas del Banco Español de Puerto-Rico el día 24 de febrero de 1890").

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Bolivia, 1 boliviano, 1868 - pattern.

From Coin Archives:

Republic silver Pattern Boliviano 1868 P-CT, La Paz mint, KM-Pn25, SP58 PCGS.

Clemente Torretti (this is the correct spelling) was an Italian who initially agreed to a potentially very profitable contract with dictator Mariano Melgarejo, signed on February 1867. This contract authorized him to issue up to 50,000 marks of silver in debased coins of 0.500 fineness in denominations of 2, 1 and 1/2 Real, which would be in turn declared as legal tender. The coins would be minted at the then abandoned La Paz mint, which would be renovated and given a steam press of 40hp at Torretti's expense. As further compensation for his profits, Torretti would give 8% of said profits to the Bolivian government, who would also take possession of the new equipment once the minting operation had been completed.

Due to strong protests by both the Peruvian government and local Bolivian merchants, the contract was rescinded while the equipment and press were on their way to La Paz, and this equipment was instead acquired by the Bolivian government for 200,000 pesos (or Bolivianos). The fascinating series of patterns dated 1868, with Torretti's initials CT flanking a charming depiction on the Andean condor, and the legend MONEDA EMITIDA EN LA PAZ are testimony of this failed project. While examples of the copper 1 Boliviano are encountered from time to time, the silver pieces such as the present coin are much rarer.

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Uruguay, Bronze Pattern 1 Doblon ,1870, KM-Pn31 (variety), Proof 64 BN NGC.

From Coin Archives:

Rare copper pattern struck for the Doblon, a gold denomination which was never struck for circulation. One of the classic rarities of the Uruguayan series, of which only few examples are known, including two gilt bronze or copper examples. A specimen of the latter was referenced by Ricardo Elicabe in the January 1929 issue of the "Revista filatelica de la sociedad de comerciantes de sellos postales", printed in Buenos Aires.

The law of June 23, 1862 established the gold Doblon, of .917 fineness and a weight of 16.97 grams as the monetary unit, equivalent to 10 silver Pesos of 0.917 fineness and 25.480 grams. The silver Peso was mirrored to the Brazilian 2000 Reis piece struck from 1851 onwards (these pieces were well accepted in Uruguay), but the gold was valued higher in Uruguay than Brazil: hence, the corresponding 20,000 Reis piece was worth slightly more than 10 Uruguay Pesos, namely 10.56 Pesos. Coins struck to the decimal French standard, were of slightly less nominal value when converted to the Uruguayan rate: thus a decimal gold 10 Pesos piece (such as the French 50 Francs or the Chilean condor) was worth 9 Uruguayan Pesos, while a silver decimal Peso was worth 90 Uruguayan Centesimos. These rather confusing conversions had to be made in everyday transactions since Uruguay struck no gold or silver coins for the first 15 years after the 1862 law was proclaimed. Evidently, the aforementioned gold and silver foreign coins provided a sufficient media for the higher transactions since in that 1862-1877 period, the only coins minted in Uruguay were the bronze minors struck in 1869, struck in Paris and Birmingham ("A" and "H" mintmarks respectively). Shortly after those issues, a few trials of the silver and gold denominations were struck, all dated 1870, but no such regular coins were issued. All these 1870 pieces look French in manufacture and they were most probably struck at the Paris mint. Finally, on December 30, 1876 a resolution was passed to call for proposals to strike up to 1,000,000 pesos in the decimal standard. These correspond to the 1877-1878 issued struck in Paris. Although the 1862 law was never materialized into regular issue coins (save for the common 1869 bronze issues), it left a treasure for the numismatic community with the patterns dated 1870. Of the aforementioned copper trials of the Doblon, the present example is one of the finest known.

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Argentina, 1 peso, 1943.  Condor.

© Río de la Plata Compañía Numismática.

[Henk]

Once in my collection (junk box find) but now sold. Copper-Nickel 25 mm. Unlisted in Prober (Historia Numismatica de Guatemala 1957). Listed but not illustrated in KM: Pn37.2. Listed in Numista https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces304952.html (this specimen). Unusual because of the off-center hole. Never found out where it was minted. I assume it was by Lauer Nurnberg (DE). There also exists a 2 Peso pattern in Porcelain made in Meissen (Prober 36), see: https://numismatics.org/collection/1946.134.139. Hence my assumption this 1 Peso was minted in Germany.

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Great find, Henk.