Colombia-Numismatics · Independence
8 reales coin, 1821
8 reales · Bogotá BA–JF · 1821
An 1821 8 reales with the Indian of American liberty. On the reverse, the pomegranate of Cundinamarca, Bogotá’s BA mintmark, and assayer JF.
Catalog facts
- Reference
- KM# C6 · Restrepo 157.4 · Hernández 285 · Numista N#35034
- Year
- 1821
- Metal
- Silver .666 (type specification)
- Mint
- Bogotá (BA), Cundinamarca legend
- Condition
- Circulated, unslabbed. Flattened profile and hairlines in the field; 1821, CUNDINAMARCA, BA, JF, and the R are readable. The 8 is nearly smooth. Photographs do not authenticate the disc (private collection)
Obverse
Reverse
The piece
In 1821 the Bogotá mint struck this 8 reales of the Republic of Colombia. The obverse carries the Indian bust — American liberty, the china coin Nariño ordered in 1813 and that Bolívar asked for again on 18 August 1819 — with the legend REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA, unaccented on the die, and the date 1821 under the profile. The reverse shows the pomegranate of New Granada, the legend CUNDINAMARCA, the R of the value to the right of the fruit, and, in the exergue, BA · JF. BA is Bogotá’s mintmark on this type; JF is the assayer. Catalogues number it KM# C6 and Restrepo 157.4, the variety with BA; Restrepo 157.3 is the 1821 JF without that mark. Hernández, in the 8th edition of 2023, opens the Gran Colombia 8 reales with the 1820 mule as Cód. 282, and the next plate gathers Cód. 283, 284, and 285: the 1821 Bogotá BA·JF is the third of those rows. Numista groups the type as N#35034 and puts the pomegranate on the obverse and the Indian on the reverse; this record takes the portrait as the obverse. Silver .666, about 23 g, and 37 mm are type figures: this disc was not weighed or measured, and the photographs do not authenticate the metal. The 8 is worn nearly smooth. BanRep’s coin tables begin in 1987, with the modern peso, and do not give an 1821 mintage. This piece is not the colonial pillar dollar, nor the republican peso of 1825, nor the 1820 Santa Marta copper cuartillo.
Scarcity
Numista covers type KM# C6 (N#35034), struck in 1820 and 1821, and does not publish a mintage. The 1821 with BA is the combination it records most often; the 1821 JF without BA is Restrepo 157.3. This record does not invent a slab census or publish hammers.
Sources
- Numista — 8 reales, Republic of Colombia (N#35034) (opens in a new tab)
KM# C6; type silver .666, about 23 g and 37 mm; Bogotá mint; dates 1820–1821, including the 1821 Ba JF combination. Numista puts the pomegranate on the obverse. No mintage is cited here.
- CoinVarieties — Cundinamarca 1821-Ba JF 8 reales (opens in a new tab)
Indian-bust and pomegranate type, KM# C6, Restrepo 157.4, .666 silver of about 23 g. A type comparable; not this specimen, and prices are not published.
- Pedro Pablo Hernández — Coins and Banknotes of Colombia, 8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
Gran Colombia 8 reales: Cód. 282 is the 1820 mule; the plate for Cód. 283, 284, and 285 ends with the 1821 Bogotá BA·JF. Prices and plates are not published.
Related pieces
Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.
