1 Escudo (Gold) – Charles IV – Popayán Mint (1792–1808)

In the collection

1. 

   1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1800

   1800 · Gold .875 (type specification)

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2. 

   1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1801

   1801 · Gold .875 (type specification)

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3. 

   1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1806

   1806 · Gold .875 (type specification)

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4. 

   1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1808

   1808 · Gold .875 (type specification)

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The mint in archival images

The plans and façade of the Popayán mint place the type inside its working infrastructure: shops, courtyards, and service rooms where colonial gold moved from metal to coin.

The Popayán type

The gold 1 escudo struck at the Popayán Mint — mint mark P — under Charles IV marks a clear stretch of colonial coinage in the New Kingdom. It was struck regularly between 1792 and 1808, and it succeeds the transitional issues that still carried the bust of Charles III. The house had been at work since 1758.

That is type KM# 56.2: Charles IV’s own legend and bust, milled gold. It is not Santa Fe’s KM# 56.1, with mintmark NR–JJ. It is not the transitional type with Charles IV’s legend and Charles III’s bust — Hernández Cód. 686, dates 1789 and 1790, assayer P–SF. This collection’s 1791 P–SF 2 escudos belongs to that earlier generation (KM# 51.2), not to this one-escudo module. This case holds four P–JF discs: 1800, 1801, 1806, and 1808.

Composition and module

The type is struck in .875 fine gold. The theoretical weight is about 3.38 g — Hernández records 3.389 g — and the diameter spans 18 to 19 mm; Numista gives 19 mm. Those are catalogue figures: the four discs in this case were not weighed or measured. Numista gives the type a reeded edge and medal alignment. No mintage is verified; BanRep’s coin tables begin in 1987.

Obverse

It shows the armored and draped bust of Charles IV facing right, the royal legend, and the date in the exergue. Normalized legend: CAROL · IIII · D · G · HISP · ET IND · R · [year] (IIII, not IV). It expands to Carolus IIII Dei Gratia Hispaniarum et Indiarum Rex: “Charles IV, by the grace of God, king of the Spains and the Indies.”

Reverse

It displays the crowned coat of arms encircled by the Order of the Golden Fleece. Flanking the shield are the denomination — 1 on the left, S on the right — the Popayán mint mark (P), and the assayer initials. The 1 and the S mark one escudo, not 15. The motto of the type, IN · UTROQ · FELIX · A · D ·, stands for In utroque felix, auspice Deo.

Assayers (JF)

Throughout this run (1792–1808) the ordinary Popayán assay on type KM# 56.2 is JF. Hernández reserves Cód. 688 for that combination: Charles IV’s legend and bust, mark P, and initials JF. The 1804–1806 P–JT is another row — Cód. 689; CoinVarieties gives it as Restrepo 85.36. Numista does not confirm the P–JT in Hernández for 1806. This case does not hold a P–JT.

Catalog references

The type is classified as KM# 56.2 and, in Colombian numismatics, as Hernández 688. Friedberg lists it as Fr# 59. Numista gathers those figures at N#52837. Restrepo, Calicó, and Cayón number by date: the 1801 P–JF is Restrepo 85.20 and Calicó 1160; the 1806 P–JF, Restrepo 85.34, Calicó 1168, and Cayón 14127; the 1808 P–JF, Restrepo 85.40 and Cayón 14140. Those numbers name the type or the date. The specimen is the disc photographed on each record.

Archival notes

The existence of an 1808 Charles IV strike at Popayán remains under discussion. Numista notes that P. P. Hernández’s Colombian national catalogue does not confirm that year at either Nuevo Reino or Popayán, though it appears in some foreign listings. Cód. 688 names the P–JF type, not a verified 1808 row. CoinVarieties records the 1808 P–JF as Restrepo 85.40 and notes Restrepo’s 1808/7 overdate; on this collection’s disc the last digit reads 8, and an underlying 7 is not asserted. The Ferdinand VII 1 escudo of the same mint and year (KM# 64.2, Hernández 691, Fr# 66) keeps the Charles IV bust and changes the legend to FERDND VII; that is not this type.

No slab census and no hammer are published here. The four specimens in this case circulated worn, often with a flattened portrait — a frequent trait of the period’s dies, not a grade. Photographs do not authenticate the metal.