Colombia-Numismatics · colonial Popayán

1 escudo coin, 1800

1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1800

An 1800 gold escudo struck at Popayán in the name of Charles IV. The obverse carries the bust and the date; the reverse, the value 1 S and the marks P · JF.

Catalog facts

Reference: KM# 56.2 · Restrepo 85.18 · Calicó 1159 · Hernández 688 · Cayón 14083 · Fr#59 · Numista N#52837
Year: 1800
Metal: Gold .875 (type specification)
Mint: Popayán (P)
Condition: Unslabbed; no grade assigned. Worn portrait, weak reverse center, surface marks, and rim irregularities; date, 1 S, and P–JF readable. Photographs do not authenticate the disc (private collection)

Obverse, 1 escudo 1800 — Obverse: bust of Charles IV facing right, legend with IIII, and the date 1800.

Obverse: bust of Charles IV facing right, legend with IIII, and the date 1800.

Reverse, 1 escudo 1800 — Reverse: crowned arms and the Golden Fleece; 1 S; marks P and JF beside the fleece.

Reverse: crowned arms and the Golden Fleece; 1 S; marks P and JF beside the fleece.

The piece

In 1800 the Popayán mint, at work since 1758, was still striking milled gold in the name of Charles IV. This disc shows the date 1800 under the portrait, the value 1 S, and, on either side of the fleece, the marks P and JF. That is type KM# 56.2 — Restrepo 85.18, Calicó 1159, Hernández 688, Cayón 14083, Friedberg 59 — not Santa Fe’s KM# 56.1 with mintmark NR–JJ. It is not this collection’s 1801 P–JF escudo (Restrepo 85.20, Calicó 1160), nor the 1806 and 1808 pieces. Normalized obverse legend: CAROL · IIII · D · G · HISP · ET IND · R · 1800 (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: IN · UTROQ · FELIX · A · D ·, for In utroque felix, auspice Deo. The 1 at left and S at right mark one escudo, not 15. Gold .875, a type weight of about 3.38 g, and a module of 19 mm are Numista figures; the same page notes 0.095 troy oz of fine gold on that weight. This disc was not weighed or measured. Numista gives the type a milled technique and medal alignment. The edge looks reeded in these photographs; there is no separate edge view, and the two faces do not fix this disc’s axis. No mintage is verified: CoinVarieties leaves the 1800 P–JF without a figure, Numista does not publish a mintage, and BanRep’s coin tables begin in 1987. Unslabbed; photographs do not authenticate the metal.

The type, from 1792 to 1808, has its own page.

Scarcity

Numista covers type KM# 56.2 (N#52837) and lists the 1800 P–JF as Hernández 688, without a mintage. CoinVarieties documents that date and assayer as Cayón 14083, Restrepo 85.18, and Friedberg 59, and leaves the striking unstated. That page calls the type common within Charles IV gold; that is neither a survivor census nor a mintage for this year. No slab census and no hammer are published here. The 1801, 1806, and 1808 P–JF 1 escudos are separate records in this collection.

Sources

Numista — 1 escudo, Charles IV, Colombia (N#52837) (opens in a new tab)
KM# 56.2 for the P mint; 1800 P–JF is listed as Hernández 688. Type gold .875, about 3.38 g, 19 mm, and 0.095 troy oz of fine gold. No mintage and no value are cited here.
Hernández — Monedas y billetes de Colombia, 8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
Numista assigns Cód. 688 to the 1800 P–JF of this type. Price columns from that edition are not copied, and no mintage is read from them.
CoinVarieties — Popayán 1 escudo, Charles IV, 1800 P–JF (opens in a new tab)
Cayón 14083, Restrepo 85.18, Friedberg 59, and KM# 56.2. Leaves the mintage unstated. The Stack’s Bowers lot it illustrates is another specimen; prices are not published.
GreatCollections — another Popayán 1 escudo, 1800 P–JF (opens in a new tab)
Gathers KM# 56.2, Friedberg 59, Calicó 1159, and Restrepo 85.18. A comparable; not this record, and prices are not published.
Heritage — Popayán 1 escudo, Charles IV, 1800 P–JF (opens in a new tab)
Auction comparable for the 1800 P–JF combination, lot 25082 of sale 61472. Not this specimen; prices and that coin’s grade are not published.
Banrepcultural Encyclopedia — The Popayán mint (opens in a new tab)
The house began striking in 1758. Mint context, not authentication of this disc.