Francisco Lelo de Larrea, Forgotten Assayer of the Tlalpan Mint

by Adrián González Salinas

In 1957, Alberto Pradeau published his great book Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950, volume I{footnote} Alberto Francisco Pradeau. Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950. Tomo I. Edición Patrocinada por la Sociedad Numismática de México. 1957{/footnote}, and on page 503 wrote the following information related to the assayers of the Tlalpan mint.

ENSAYADORES: Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, ensayador propietario; Franscisco Parodi, segundo ensayador propietario; Luis Parodi, primer suplente; Manuel Onofre Parodi, segundo suplente,
GRABADORES: Manuel Araos.
                         Miguel Ramírez.

Also, on the same page, Pradeau concludes the following regarding the L.F. assayers of the E°M° mint: Las inciales L.F. que aparecen en la moneda acuñada en esta ceca, corresponden a los nombres de pila de D. Luis Velazquez de la cadena y de D. Francisco Parodi Pagani (The initials L.F. that appear on the coins minted at this mint (E°M°) correspond to the first names of Luis Velázquez de la Cadena and Francisco Parodi Pagani.)

And finally, on page 507, the list of assayers (ensayadores) of the E°M° mint changes:

ENSAYADORES: D. Luis Velázquez de la Cadena,
                          D. Francisco Pagani, (sic)
                          D. Luis Varela,
                          D. Francisco Lelo de Larrea,
                          D. Manuel Onofre Parodi,
                          D. Antonio de la Portilla.

As the reader can see, Alberto Pradeau listed seven different assayers for the State of Mexico mint: Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, Francisco Parodi (and later writes it as Francisco Pagani, concluding that it was Francisco Parodi Pagani), Luis Parodi, Manuel Onofre Parodi, Luis Valera, Francisco Lelo de Larrea and finally Antonio de la Portilla.

Since then, all authors who published numismatic books and articles (both from Mexico and the USA) related to the coinage of the E°M° mint (1828-1830) continued to repeat Francisco Parodi Pagani{footnote} The only Francisco Pagani I could locate was born in Mexico City on 14 October 1792, and was the son of the Italian Luis Pagani Zanona and María Antonia Rodríguez Zenteno from Mexico City.{/footnote} as the second assayer of this mint, which is totally wrong.

While looking for genealogical information about the only assayer who appears on all the coins minted by the Guadalupe y Calvo (G.C.) mint in the state of Chihuahua, Manuel Parodi (M.P.){footnote}Manuel Onofre Parodi Ortiz (Zimapán, Hidalgo, ca. 1810-1811 – Culiacán, Sinaloa, 11 February 1875) was an assayer at the mints of the State of Mexico (1828-1830), Guadalupe y Calvo (1843-1851), Culiacán (1854), Hermosillo (1866), and again in Culiacán (1871-1874). In the Mexican newspaper El Monitor Republicano No. 3,916, dated 1 May 1871, there is a note from the State Secretariat and the Office of Finance and Public Credit appointing him assayer at the Oaxaca State Mint, a position he never actually held, demonstrating the significant disorganization within the Mexico’s mints. He is one of the very few assayers who worked in four different mints in the Mexican Republic.{/footnote} I located, by pure serendipity, the marriage certificate of Francisco Lelo de Larrea where it is specified that he was an assayer at the Tlalpan mint.

Evidence that Francisco Lelo de Larrea was the second assayer of the E°M° Mint

Evidence # 1 (Year of 1827)

In the Mexico City newspaper El Sol of 25 December 1827 a list appears of the managers and employees working at that time at the State of Mexico Mint.

Luis Velázquez de la Cadena appears as First Assayer, Francisco Lelo de Larrea as Supernumerary Assayer{footnote}A supernumerary employee is used to fill temporary vacancies or to carry out activities of a purely transitory nature.{/footnote}, and Francisco Pagani as First Treasury Officer. This notice appeared exactly four months and two days before operations began at the State of Mexico Mint.

Evidence # 2 (Year of 1829)

Marriage certificate of Francisco Lelo de la Larre{footnote}Francisco Lelo de Larrea was baptized in the Church of Santo Domingo in what is now the municipality of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, on 22 September 1804, with the name Francisco de Paula María de Jesús Josef Agustín Ygnacio Joaquín Mariano Judas Tadeo Lelo de Larrea Terán. Francisco Lelo de Larrea died in Mexico City on 4 March 1871{/footnote} with María Dolores de Rosas, celebrated in Tlalpan on 11 September 1829, where Luis Velázquez de la Cadena and Manuel Parodi both appear as witnesses. Both the groom and the two witnesses indicate that they were assayers at the Tlalpan Mint.

En la Ciudad de Tlalpam a once de Setiembre de mil ochocientos veinte y nueve ante mí el Lic. Don Francisco Patiño cura propio de esta Parroquia compareció Don Francisco Lelo, Ensayador de la Casa de Moneda de esta capital, á fin de contraer matrimonio con Doña María Dolores de Rosas y estando precente le recibí […] (In the City of Tlalpan, on the eleventh of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, before me, Licentiate Don Francisco Patiño, priest of this Parish, appeared Don Francisco Lelo, Assayer of the Mint of this capital, in order to contract marriage with Doña María Dolores de Rosas, and being present, I received him […])

First witness for the couple getting married. […] In the same act: before me, the undersigned priest, the couple getting married presented as their witness a man whom I know, who stated his name was Don Luis Velásquez de la Cadena, Assayer of this Mint, a native of […]

Second witness for the couple getting married. […] En el mismo día: ambos contrayentes precentaron por su testigo a un hombre á quién fé conosco que expresó llamarse Don Manuel Onofre Parodi Ensayador de esta Casa de Moneda […] ([…] On the same day: the couple getting married presented as their witness a man whom I know, who stated his name was Don Manuel Onofre Parodi, Assayer of this Mint […])

Signature of the second Assayer of State of Mexico Mint (Francisco Lelo de Larrea)

Evidence # 3 (Year of 1830)

Again, in the Mexico City newspaper El Sol of 11 June 1830, a note dated 9 June 1830 was published by employees of the Tlalpan mint (when its closure had already been authorized), listing the assayers Luis Velázquez de la Cadena, Francisco Lelo de Larrea, and Manuel Parodi. Francisco Pagani does not appear in that note.

Evidence # 4 (Year of 1832)

Also, on the front page of El Sol of 6 January 1832, a note was published in which Francisco Lelo de Larrea, Manuel Parodi, and Luis Velázquez de la Cadena request to be declared unemployed by the Federation (Federal Government). The three assayers from the now-defunct Tlalpan Mint appear together again.

Why was Pradeau wrong?

Alberto Pradeau documented a lot of names while working on his monumental three-volume work, Historia Numismática de México de 1823 a 1950 (plus another fourth volume of plates and illustrations), which inherently led to errors. Francisco Parodi Pagani does not actually exist. It is likely that while working on the chapter of his book about the E°M° mint, Pradeau confused and mixed up the names of different people. As can be seen in the list of managers and employees of the Tlalpan mint (1827), Francisco Pagani worked as treasurer and subsequently disappears from newspaper records, leading to the conclusion that he engaged in other activities outside the Tlalpan mint.

See also “State of Mexico Mint (1828-1830)” presented by Adrián González Salinas at the Sociedad Numismática de México, 8 July 2024.

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 assayers on its decimal coinage were:

Reales issues of the Guadalajara mint (¼ and ½ real)

Quarter real

 
KM-368.3 ¼r Guadalajara 1848 GaLR (Stack’s Bowers Baltimore Auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8087)

Diameter 12 mm. 0.845 g, 0.90277 silver

KM-368.3 ¼r 1843/2 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72007)

Half real

KM-370.5 ½r 1825 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 70298)

Diameter 16 mm. 1.690 g, 0.90277 silver

For a consideration of the rarity of Guadalajara ½ real see here.

KM-370.5 ½r 1830/29 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72100)

KM-370.5 ½r 1837/6 Ga JG (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8137) 

KM-370.5 ½r 1840/39 Ga MC (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72107)


KM-370.5 ½r 1843/2 Ga JG (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8140) 

KM-370.5 ½r 1848/7 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72115)


KM-370.5 ½r 1850/49 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72117)


KM-370.5 ½r 1851/0 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, 23 January 2025, lot 39283)

KM-370.5 ½r 1858/7 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72123)

KM-370.5 ½r 1859/7 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72124)


KM-370.5 ½r 1860/59 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72125)

Reales issues of the Guadalajara mint (1 real)

 
KM-372.4 1r 1835 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection, 23 June 2026, lot 72312)

Diameter 20 mm. 3.380 g, 0.90277 silver

KM-372.4 1r 1828/7 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers auction, 13 February 2019, lot 71316)


KM-372.4 1r 1829/8/7 G FS (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 28 March 2011, lot 8178)


KM-372.4 1r 1829/8 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection ,23 June 2026, lot 72306)


KM-372.4 1r 1834/3 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection ,23 June 2026, lot 72311)


KM-372.4 1r 1837/6 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection ,23 June 2026, lot 72313)


KM-372.4 1r 1850/49 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection ,23 June 2026, lot 72323)


KM-372.4 1r 1853/2 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 13 February 2019, lot 71325)


KM-372.4 1r 1857/6 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Kirk Menczer Collection ,23 June 2026, lot 72328)

KM-372.4 1r 1860/59 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 13 February 2019, lot 71326)