South and Central America

[andyg]

Guyana,

Some older coins,
1) 1/8 Gulder 1835 for the united colony of Demerary & Essequibo.
2) ¼ Gulder 1833.
3) 4 pence 1891, for British Guiana and West Indies, homeland UK types were also struck for Guiana, notably 2 pence of 1838, 1843, 1848 and four pence of 1888.
4) 4 Pence 1918, now just for British Guiana.
Between 1955 and 1967 East caribbean States territory coinage was used.
5) 25 Cents 1988, of the Guyanese Dollar, introduced in 1967
6) 50 Cents 1967

[andyg]

Guyana, a modern type set.

In the early 90's inflation caught hold of the Guyanese Dollar, new coins were introduced in 1996.

1) 1 Dollar 1996, Rice Harvest, designed by Sean Thomas
2) 5 Dollars 1996, Sugar Cane, designed by Selwyn Cambridge
3) 10 Dollars 1996, Traditional gold mining, designed by Ignatious Adams

[andyg]

Paraguay, some older coins.

1) 1/12 Real 1845, Paraguays first coin, prior to this standard Bolivian coinage was in use.
2) 4 Centesimos 1870, with mintmark 'SHAW' who were contractors for Ralph Heaton.  Paraguay converted to the Peso in 1856, at a rate of 8 Reales = 1 Peso.
3) 1 Peso 1938, in Aluminium due to the steady decline in value of the Peso.
4) 10 Pesos 1939.
5) 15 Centesimos 1953, Paraguay changed it's currency in 1944 (1 New Guarani = 100 Old Pesos.)
6) 25 Centesimos 1953.

[andyg]

Paraguay, a modern type set (part!)

1) 50 Guaranies 1992, Obv General José Félix Estigarribia.  Rev. Acaray Dam
2) 100 Guaranies 1996, Obv José E. Díaz Rev. Humaitá
3) 500 Guaranies 2007, Obv Bernardino Caballero Melgarejo Rev. National Bank Building
4) 1000 Guranies 2007, Obv Francisco Solano López Carrillo Rev. Panteon Nacional de los Heroes

The 50 Guaranies was changed to Aluminium in 2007, whilst the 100 Guaranies to Steel.  The picture below shows the previous brass versions.

[andyg]

Peru - some older coins,

1) ¼ Peso 1823, of the republican provisional issue during the war of independence.
2) ¼ Real 1855, the same specifications as the Bolivian issue, but minted in Lima.
3) 2 Reales 1837 from South Peru.  During the period of 1835-39 Peru and Bolivia formed a union, with Peru being divided into two states, North and South.  The confederation fell apart after defeat by Chile in 1839.
4) 20 Centavos 1919, with the date in words, Un Mil Novecientos Diecinueve.  Peru decimalised in 1858 with 100 Centavos = 1 Sol.
5) 500 Soles 1984, the sol now being worthless due to inflation.
6) 10 Centimos 1986.  A new coinage was introduced in 1985, 100 Centimos = 1 Inti. 1000 Old soles = 1 New Inti.

[andyg]

Peru, a modern type set.

Another new coinage was introduced in 1991, 100 Centimos = 1 New Sol, 1,000,000 old Inti = 1 New Sol.

1) 1 Centimo 2006
2) 5 Centimos 2007
3) 10 Centimos 2007
4) 20 Centimos 2008
5) 50 Centimos 2007
6) 1 Sol 2007
7) 2 Soles 2006, stylised bird in flight
8 ) 5 Soles 2006, stylised bird in flight.

The reverse was changed in 2001, the 50 centimos for example is quite different to the first type.

[andyg]

Suriname - a modern type set,

1) 1 Cent 1980
2) 5 Cents 1988
3) 10 Cents 1989
4) 25 Cents 1989
5) 100 Cents 1989
6) 250 Cents 1989

The Surinamese Guilder was hit by inflation in the early 1990's.  In 2004 they replaced the Guilder with a new currency the Surinamese Dollar at a rate of 1000 Old Guilders = 1 New Dollar.  No new coins were made, however the old coins became valid again so a ¼ Guilder became worth a ¼ Dollar.  New coins since 2004 have yet to appear outside mint sets. 

[andyg]

Uruguay, some older coins,

1) 4 Centesimos 1869, struck in Paris.
2) 10 Centesimos 1930, commemorating the Centennial of independence
3) 50 Centesimos 1917, with a portrait of Jose Artigas
4) 100 Pesos 1973, another South American currency hit by inflation.
5) 1 New Peso 1977, a new coinage was introduced at a rate of 1000 old pesos = 1 New Sol
6) 1 New Peso 1989, the Peso again beset by inflation.  This issue is quite scare as not all the mintage entered circulation.

[andyg]

Uruguay, a modern type set.

These were introduced in 1994, at a rate of 1000 (Old) New Pesos = 1 (New) Peso
1) 10 Centesimos 1994, no longer current
2) 20 Centesimos 1994, no longer current
3) 50 Centesimos 1998
4) 1 Peso 1994
5) 2 Pesos 1994
6) 5 Pesos 2003
7) 10 Pesos 2000

All have a portrait of José Gervasio Artigas.

[andyg]

Venezuela, some older coins

1) 1 Centavo 1862, with the 'HEATON' mintmark on the truncation of the head.
2) 12½ Centavos 1896, of the new currency introduced in the same year 100 Centavos = 1 Bolivano
3) ¼ Bolivar 1919, no denomination is present on the silver Venezuela coins, instead they just had the weight, in this case 1.25 Grams.
4) ½ Bolivar 1936 or 2.5 Gr.
5) 1 Bolivar 1936 or 5 Grams.
6) 1000 Bolivars, the final coin before the new Bolivar was introduced in 2008.

[andyg]

Venezuela, a modern type set

The Bolivano was revalued in 2008 at a rate of 1000 old Bolivars = 1 Bolivar Fuerte ('Strong' Bolivar)

1) 1 Centavo 2007
2) 5 Centavos 2007
3) 10 Centavos 2007
4) 12½ Centavos 2007
5) 25 Centavos 2007
6) 50 Centavos 2007
7) 1 Bolivar Fuerte 2007

The 1 to 50 Centavos have the coat of arms on the reverse, the 1 Bolivar a portrait of Simón Bolívar.

The 12½ Centimos was introduced at the instigation of Hugo Chavez as some bizarre attempt at controlling inflation...

[andyg]

And finally,

No study of coinage of the Americas is complete without mention of the Spanish colonial Real.
Used nearly all over the continent and produced at several mints.  The standard coin was the 8 Reales which in time became the model of most of the currencies in South America and is responsible for the odd denominations, 8 Reales became worth 1 Peso, so 2 Reales was 25 Centavos whilst 1 Real was 12½ Centavos (see Venezuela).  Half real became 6¼ Centavos which was used in Haiti. 
The Pillars of Hercules design on the 8 Reales is the source of the modern $ symbol.

Mints were as follows
G - Guatemala City (until 1776)
LM = Lima, Peru
M - Mexico City
NG - Nueva Guatemala (from 1777)
NR - Cartagena, Colombia
P, PN - Popayan, Colombia
PTS - Potosi, Bolivia
So - Santiago, Chile

1) ½ Real, crude, a 'cob', struck at Potosi, Bolivia
2) ½ Real 1807, Charles IIII struck at Mexico
3) ½ Real 1812, Ferdinand VII struck at Santiago, with the portrait of Charles IIII but legend of Ferdinand VII as they didn't know what he looked like...
4) ½ Real 1821, Ferdinand VII struck at Mexico, with the portrait of Ferdinand VII.
5) 2 Reales 1797, struck at New Guatemala.
6) 8 Reales 1772, struck in Mexico, this particular example has the mintmasters initials 'FM' upside down.

[andyg]

Here's a brief tour of the currencies of Central America.

[andyg]

Belize or British Honduras

Some older coins,

the first coins issued for British Honduras being cents in 1885 (1), prior to this Spanish coins were standard currency in this British colony.  From 1885 to 1894 the Guatemalan silver peso was the accepted currency, the bronze 1 cents being struck to compliment it.  In 1894 the colony switched to using the US$, the designs have remained relatively unchanged ever since (2-4 & 6)

1) 1 Cent 1888
2) 1 Cent, 1965
3) 5 Cents 1919
4) 5 Cents 1945
5) 25 Cents, 1985 FAO issue
6) 50 Cents 1907

British Honduras coins remain relatively hard to find, and regularly command values higher than those in catalogues.

[andyg]

Belize - Franklin Mint Issues

Throughout the 70's and early 80's the Franklin Mint made special collector versions of circulating currencies, all were non-circulating, with one exception - Belize.
I do not know why this is so, the 5 and 25 cent below have definitely been worn in circulation.

The designer was Michael Rizzello.

1) 1 Cent 1974, Swallow tailed kite
2) 5 Cents 1977, Fork tailed flycatcher
3) 10 Cents 1974, Long tailed hermit bird
4) 25 Cents 1975, Blue crowned motmot
5) 50 Cents 1974, Magnificent Frigate bird