Colombia-Numismatics · colonial Popayán

1 escudo coin, 1806

1 escudo · Popayán P–JF · 1806

An 1806 gold escudo struck at Popayán for 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 85.34 · Calicó 1168 · Hernández 688 · Cayón 14127 · Fr#59 · Numista N#52837
Year: 1806
Metal: Gold .875 (type specification)
Mint: Popayán (P)
Condition: Unslabbed; no grade assigned. Portrait worn by circulation, reverse clearer; date, 1 S, and P–JF readable. Photographs do not authenticate the disc (private collection)

Obverse: bust of Charles IV facing right, legend with IIII, and the date 1806.

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

The piece

In 1806 the Popayán mint, at work since 1758, was still striking milled gold in the name of Charles IV. This disc shows the date 1806 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 85.34, Calicó 1168, Hernández 688, Cayón 14127, 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 P–JT: Numista does not confirm that combination in Hernández, and CoinVarieties lists it separately as Restrepo 85.36. Normalized obverse legend: CAROL · IIII · D · G · HISP · ET IND · R · 1806 (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: this disc was not weighed or measured. Numista gives the type a reeded edge 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 1806 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.

Scarcity

Numista covers type KM# 56.2 (N#52837) and lists the 1806 P–JF as Hernández 688, without a mintage. CoinVarieties leaves that date and assayer without a figure. The 1806 P–JT is another combination, not confirmed by Hernández on Numista. No slab census and no hammer are published here. The 1801 P–JF 1 escudo is a separate record in this collection.

Sources

Numista — 1 escudo, Charles IV, Colombia (N#52837) (opens in a new tab)
KM# 56.2 for the P mint; 1806 P–JF is listed as Hernández 688. Type gold .875, about 3.38 g, and 19 mm. No mintage is cited here.
Hernández — Monedas y billetes de Colombia, 8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
Numista assigns Cód. 688 to the 1806 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, 1806 P–JF (opens in a new tab)
Cayón 14127, Friedberg 59, and KM# 56.2. Leaves the mintage unstated. The Heritage lot it illustrates is another specimen; prices are not published.
Sedwick / NumisBids — Popayán 1 escudo, Charles IV, 1806 JF (opens in a new tab)
Gathers Restrepo 85.34, KM# 56.2, Calicó 1168, and Friedberg 59. A comparable; not this record, and prices 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.