Peru Provisional coinage 1879-1880

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by The Eidolon, Feb 27, 2021.

  1. The Eidolon

    The Eidolon Well-Known Member

    As you can probably guess, I've been cataloging some of my old unsorted coinage today. These are both Peruvian "Moneda Provisional" coins from 1879. The 10 centavos I think was a junk bin find, and the 5 I bought packaged for $1.75 some time ago. These took me a moment to find in Krause. They were listed in a separate section under "Provisional Coinage". Apparently Peru had monetary problems during their unsuccessful war with Chile in the War of the Pacific from 1879-1883. The 10 centavo I believe was a temporary replacement for the silver dinero (1863-77 and 1888-1916) and the 5 centavos for the 1/2 dinero (1863-4 and 1885-1917). I believe they were demonetized after the war, and a significant number of them survived, so they are not particularly valuable even in good condition. Oddly, alongside the copper-nickel provisional money, Peru continued to mint some silver sols during the same period throughout the war. I'm not sure how they expected silver and base metal coinage to circulate side-by-side during wartime with Gresham's Law being what it is. ob.jpg
    rev.jpg
    The sun on the obverse has a face in the center, making it obvious which orientation was meant to be "up". Oddly, the dates are printed sideways, in the 3:00 position.

    This old cointalk thread (2010!) has some more details on the War of the Pacific/Guano War. And this thread has some info in Spanish, though I was too lazy to do more than skim it. Of the provisional series, there was also a 20 centavos, but I don't have one. The 5 and 10 centavos were minted 1879-80, and the 20 in 1879 only. None of them look to be particularly scarce, so it would probably be an easy series to complete.
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. fretboard

    fretboard Defender of Old Coinage!

    Peru has some very interesting coins for sure, especially their gold, I don't have any yet but I hope to someday. It's too expensive right now. :phantom: Here's an 1882 Un Sol Silver coin that I've had for quite awhile. ;)

    perue.JPG perug.JPG peruh.JPG peruf.JPG perud.JPG
     
    Marsyas Mike, Chris B and The Eidolon like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page