The Culiacán mint

Culiacán is the capital of the northwestern coastal state of Sinaloa.

The first futile attempt to establish a mint was made when the states of Sonora and Sinaloa were still joined as the state of Occidente, with the capital at El Fuerte. On 29 September 1825 the state government entered into a contract with the Ricardo Extér to set up a mint. Extér was a British merchant who arrived in Mexico after independence and served as a partner in Exter, Graves and Company, a company that had ties to the General Pearl and Coral Association of London. Extér promoted mines in western Mexico and established several contracts for the exploitation of small silver mines that in 1825 brought him income of 153,000 pesos. Extér sought to integrate the mining business with that of coinage.

The contract provided that the contractor was obliged to fit out a building, buy the machinery necessary for the minting and, most importantly, at the end of the contract, the local government was obliged to pay the cost of the building but the machinery would become state property. Thus, at the end of the contract (12 years), it was foreseen that the state would have sufficient conditions to be able to operate the mint on its own account.

After the federal government delegated the operation of mints to the states, the state government began construction of a building to house a mint and the importation of machinery from Europe in 1830, but on 6 December 1834, with the building still incomplete, it invited tenders from private contractors to finish the construction work and then run the mint. On 10 January 1835 it held a meeting with businesses and gave 80 days for people to submit proposals{footnote}History based on Román Beltrán Martínez, La Casa de Moneda en Culiacán, Documenta Culiacanense, Núm 5, 2003, Culiacán, Sinaloa{/footnote}.

On 3 October 1842 José Delmotte, representing Compañía de Minas de Guadalupe y Calvo proposed establishing a mint in Culiacán and on 4 March 1843 the substitute President, Nicolás Bravo, agreed. Thus the same company was running both the Guadalupe y Calvo and the Culiacán mints. The mint was opened and coinage commenced in April 1846. It was reported that Culiacán had steam powered coining presses as early as 1846 but this is highly unlikely based on the quality or its coinage and the fact that the director of the mint at Guadalupe y Calvo issued a medal in December 1847 commemorating the first use of a steam press for coinage in the Republic. A plausible explanation for this confusion would be that since the machinery was probably purchased in 1846 it was assumed by historians unaware of the facts, that the modern machinery went to the new mint at Culiacán.

The 14-year lease should have run until 1860 but on 14 August 1855 a new lease was granted to Manual García Granados for $5,000 annually for nine years from 30 September 1854, stipulating that Guadalupe y Calvo would remain closed and its work added to Culiacán.

On 5 May 1859, governor Ignacio Pesqueira commissioned the mint  to produce 1,066,667 Sonora cuartillas (¼ real) and 1,066,667 Sonora octavos (⅛ real).

Culiacán was the only mint that was never occupied by Maximilian 's forces.

In 1862 the mint passed to Fortunato de la Vega, who obtained an extension for ten years, to end on 30 September 1874. However, on 30 August 1870 the mint reverted to the government. A decree of Benito Juárez on 24 December 1871^{[text needed]} prohibited the leasing of mints then controlled by the government and the extension of any leases then in force. However, notwithstanding the government's decision not to re-lease the mints and the increase in production registered products from 1873 to 1875, on 29 August 1876, the mints of Culiacán, Alamos and Hermosillo were leased again to Robert Symon and Company for a period of three years and six months. This agreement was extended by the various contracts of 20 December 1879^{[text needed]}, 1 June 1883^{[text needed]}, and 4 February 1888^{[text needed]}.

By a decree of 19 December 1892^{[text needed]}, the Congreso de la Unión authorised the Executive to make arrangements leading to the termination of the leases of the mints, on the basis of returning to the tenants the sums due to them, for any advances made to the Federal Treasury, and to pay them, by way of compensation, or for the value of the machinery and other reasons, such sums as it deemed equitable. In the event that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached, the Executive, on the basis of the enormous damage caused to the Public Treasury by the lease contracts, and the defects from which they suffer, should, if it deemed it appropriate, attempt sanctions to obtain the rescission of the contracts. Therefore, on 25 January 1896, it was suggested that the three leases of Culiacán, Alamos and Hermosillo be surrendered for a payment of $38,000.46. Sebastián Camacho, representing the lessees, accepted on 27 February 1896.

The mint was then operated by the government until its closure on 31 May 1905.

The amounts minted in the years from 1846 to 1905 are given here.

Mint owners or lessees and their tenures

Assayers and their tenures (as evidence by coinage)

 
Silver

KM 374.3 2r 1861 C PV (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8250)

KM 375.1 4r 1857 C CE (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8325)

KM 377.3 8r 1854/3 C CE (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 16 May 2023, lot 70360)

Variety with Sonora Cap & Eagle

The 8 Reales series was interrupted in 1870 and not resumed until 1873, during which time the mint issued Balance Scale Pesos. Culiacán was one of only four mints that produced 8 Reales until the series ended in 1897.

Gold

KM 380 2E 1857 C CE (Stack’s Bowers ANA auction, 24 August 2021, lot 45327)

KM 383.2 8E 1865 C CE (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 16 January 2021, lot 21075)

 Mintage

The mintage is detailed here.

The Durango mint

Located in a once rich mining area, this city is the capital of the state of Durango.

The mint was opened in 1811 by the Spanish Colonial Govemment. By independence, after more than a decade of war, the country was bankrupt and it was urgent to find mechanisms that would help resolve this situation. The mint of Durango continued its work in 1821 and 1822 during Iturbide’s reign, producing 8 reales that were the same as the previous ones with the bust of Ferdinand VII, and ⅛ and ¼ real copper coins with the legend “DE LA PROVINCIA DE NUEVA VIZCAYA”.

The state of Durango officially took over the mint on 22 May 1824 and coins were produced annually until it was closed on 30 June 1895.
Durango was one of three mints that produced 8 Reales with the Profile or Hook-neck Eagle design. However, there were problems with the quality of production in the beginning.

The early years were difficult for the State of Durango and its mint. There were times when the state did not have a legally organized government. The mint was forced to close from August 1826 until March 1827, causing the governor to complain that the loss of prestige associated with the closing would result in a reduction of the amount of metal brought in for coining. Citing the high cost of operation due to obsolete machinery, the governor recommended a study of the problems. Conditions and economics at the miny improved considerably when a 15 year lease was granted on 24 November 1829 to Manuel Bras-de-Fer and Jose Antonio Pescador.

Under their able management production grew and quality improved dramatically. In 1832 Durango became the second Mexican mint to use hub for the production of dies. When the contract with Bras-de-Fer and Pescador expired on 20 November 1844 the mint was again closed. The State of Durango requested instructions from the Federal Government with regard to the mint. Having had no word from Mexico City, early in 1845 the state legislature accepted a provisional two-year contract{footnote}El Registro Oficial, Periódico del Gobierno del Departamento de Durango, Tomo 4^o, Sem. 4^o. 27 February 1845{/footnote} that was extendable to seven years with the approval of the Federal Government and the mint was re-opened. Although occupied by the Imperial forces of Maximilian from 4 July 1864 until March 1866, at least some production of Republican 8 Reales continued. Production of 8 Reale was halted in 1870 in favour of the Balance Scale Peso. It resumed in 1873 when that serie was discontinued. From the mid 1860 until the 1880s most of Durango's 8 Reale production was sent to the Orient.

This mint began to produce gold pieces in the year 1832 in values of ½, 1, 2 and 8 escudos. A variety of the 1836 ½ escudo is described here.

The mint also produced copper octavos (from 1824 to 1854) and cuartillas (from 1845 to 1872), with different legends according to the fact that if a Liberal government was established they carried the word "ESTADO" and if they were of the Conservative order they carried the legend "DEPARTAMENTO".

This mint was the fourth most productive in silver minting in the country after those of Mexico City, Guanajuato and Zacatecas.

It closed on 30 June 1895, when the federal government was in a position to settle the debt with the lessees and take possession.

Mint owners or lessees and their tenures

Assayers and their tenures (as evidence by coinage or documentation)

Copper

Silver

Gold

KM 378.1 ½E 1848 Do RM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 11 January 2010, lot 1348)

A variety of the 1836 ½ escudo is described here.

KM 379.1 1E 1838 Do RM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 11 January 2010, lot 1322)

KM 383.3 8E 1854 Do CP/R (Stack’s Bowers auction, 11 January 2010, lot 1226)

The Guadalajara mint

 Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco and the second largest city in Mexico. The mint was opened under Spanish Colonial rule in 1812. The first Republican coinage was minted in 1825. Cap and Rays 8 Reales were coined during the following periods: 1825-1863, 1867-1870, and 1873-1895. Although the mint was captured briefly in 1860 during the Reform War, coinage of the 8 Reales series continued. Coinage was suspended from 1864 to 1866 during the Maximilian era. The Imperial Forces of Maximilian occupied the Guadalajara mint from 5 January 1864 until 19 December 1866. It is possible ·some coinage took place during this time using Republican dies . This could possibly account for the unusual overdate 1863/4. Minting a "República Mexicana" coin with a date prior to the occupation might have been more acceptable to the Imperialists. Another interruption came in 1870-1873 when the Balance Scale Peso was issued. The Guadalajara mint was closed on 30 June 1895.

Mínt owners or lessees and their tenures

Assayers and their tenures (as evidence by coinage)

The Guadalupe y Calvo mint

Named in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the governor of the state José Joaquín Calvo, the city of Guadalupe y Calvo is, in the southernmost part of the state of Chihuahua. Located 327 miles south of the capital city, Chihuahua, at an altitude of 7,643 feet, Guadalupe y Calvo was in a remote, but very rich mining area. Its remoteness was one of the principal reasons that local mining interests pressed for the establishment of a mint. The nearest mint was in Chihuahua and transporting bullion there was difficult and dangerous. There were frequent attacks by Apache and Comanche Indians, as well as local bandits.

In 1842 a newspaper reported:

... About eight years ago, … some investigations, made on the two iron-covered slopes, which formed the narrow valley where the stream flows, led to the discovery on the east side of a quartz ridge, which contained grains of gold perfectly perceptible to the naked eye. Shortly after, open-pit tillage began, after the vein had been denounced. In the meantime, the news of this discovery having spread, Messrs. Buchan and Adul, long attached to some English companies, came from Zacatecas; and the result of their voyage was the purchase of a property of 200 varas located to the northwest of the vein and to work this property the company of Guadalupe y Calvo was formed … Gold and silver are concentrated in balls of great wealth. These balls have been found, especially in the work of the English company.{footnote}El Cosmpolita, Vol. V, Núm. 196, 14 December 1842{/footnote}.

On 3 October 1842 Dictator Antonio López de Sama Anna authorized a ten year lease to the British firm Mackintosh & Company, operating as Compañía Minera Mexicana de Guadalupe y Calvo. The mint opened on 1 June 1844. As specified in the lease, the original matrices were provided by the Mexico City mint.

In late 1847 Guadalupe y Calvo became the first mint in the Republic of Mexico to employ steam powered presses for the printing of coins, only eleven years after the introduction of steam press technology at the Philadelphia mint.. This important event is commemorated by a medal bearing the name of the mint director, Tomas Mackintosh.

Grove 93a Silver medal (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, January 2015, lot 1298)

The obverse of this medal has a nine line inscription that commemorates the first use of steam machinery for producing coins 'EN / CONMEMORACION /  DE LA PRIMERA / APLICACION DEL VAPOR / EN LA REPUBLICA MEXICANA / A LA MAQUINARIA / DE AMONEDACION / TOMAS MACKINTOSH / DIRECTOR (In commemoration of the first application of steam in the Mexican Republic to the coinage machinery. Tomas Mackintosh, Director)'. The reverse has a nine line inscription that commemorates the first steam engine brought into the Sierra Madre 'LA PRIMERA / MAQUINA DE VAPOR / INTRODUCIDA A LA / SIERRA MADRE / COMENZO A ANDAR EN LA / CASA DE MONEDA / DE GUADALUPR Y CALVO / EN DIA 1 DE DICIEMBRE / DE 1847 (The first steam engine introduced to the Sierra Madre began to run at the Casa de Moneda de Guadalupe y Calvo. December 1, 1847}'.

In 1849 the lease passed to Jecker Torre y Cia., who, at the same time, also took over the tease for the mint at Culiacán. There were numerous administrative problems at the mint. Finally, coinage operations ceased in April 1852 and the doors were closed on 22 May 1852. Some of the modern equipment purchased for this mint found its way to Chihuahua where it was installed ca. 1860.

As to the closure of the mint, the newspaper El Siglo Diez y Nueve stated that the mint was seized by order of the District Judge of Chihuahua at the request of the General Commissioner of the State because the director of the mint failed to make a payment of 25,000 pesos that the government negotiated to pay troops on the border{footnote}El Siglo Diez y Nueve, Año Décimo, Cuarta Época, Núm. 639, 1 October 1850{/footnote}.

It is said that, between the opening and closing, the mint at Guadalupe y Calvo minted a total of 5,185,827 pesos, of which 2,690,104 pesos was in silver coins and 2,495,723 pesos in gold coins. 

Mint owners or lessees and their tenures

The Compañía Minera Guadalupe y Calvo a subsidiary of the parent company Manning & Marshall (other authors refer to it as "Mackintosh & Company"{footnote}The company’s main agent was Ewen Mackintosh, British consul in Mexico {/footnote}), since the rules stipulated that the mint was managed by a Mexican company. This company, taking advantage of the financial difficulties of the government, obtained several lease contracts, such as Zacatecas in 1842, Culiacán in 1843 and Guadalupe and Calvo in 1844, and came to control 80% of the mintage in Mexico. The mints of Culiacán and of Guadalupe y Calvo maintained various links throughout their operation.

Assayers and their tenures (as evidence by coinage)

Copper

cuartilla

KM-368.4 ¼r Guadalupe y Calvo 1844 GCLR (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore Auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8090)

The ¼ real coin bore the initials LR, which are those of the former assayer of the Mexico City Mint, Luciano Rovira.

Silver

Dunigan and Parker point out that the tools sent from the capital were probably only used in the first year (1844) and thereafter dies were manufactured locally, which explains the varieties of engraving that exist on the coins of 1845 and 1846{footnote}Dunigan and Parker, Resplandores, 1997, p. 202{/footnote} The uniform style from 1847 onwards can be explained by (i) the remittance of dies from the mint of Culiacán, leased by the same institution and (ii) the implementation of new minting machinery.

Half real

KM 370.6 ½r 1846 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 16 May 2023, lot 70520)

One real

KM 372.5 1r 1846 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 38186)

Two reales

KM-374.7 2r 1848 GC MP (Briggs & Bustos auction XII, April 2025, lot 251)

Four reales

KM 375.3 4r 1845 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 3844)

KM 375.3 4r 1844 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 3843)

Eight reales

KM 377.7 8r 1849 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers ANA auction, 20 August 2021, lot 41182)

Gold

As with silver coins, gold coins from 1845 onwards are also die-cut with locally made dies.

Half escudo

KM 378.3 ½E 1846 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers auction,30 October 2023, lot 70317)

KM 378.3 ½E 1846/7 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers auction,11 January 2010, lot 1357)

"E" missing lower crossbar. The second 8 is punched in low and very deep into the die.

KM-378.3 ½E 1851 GC MP (Briggs & Bustos auction XII, April 2025, lot 304)

Last year of series, stamps of design analogous to the contemporary one of the mint of Culiacán, popularly, known as "Aguila de Sonora".

One escudo

KM 379.3 1E 1848 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore auction, 6 November 2013, lot 21118)

Eight escudos

KM-383.6 8E 1848 GC MP (Briggs & Bustos auction XII, April 2025, lot 333)

KM 383.6 8E 1851 GC MP (Stack’s Bowers ANA auction, 20 August 2021, lot 41176)