The Spurious Guadalajara Coinage of 1860

by Carlos Gúzman y Gúzman

KM-377.6 8r 1860 Ga JG (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 4 November 2010, lot 6307)
regular issue without dot in snake’s tail

During the Reform War Jalisco was the scene of great political events and of noteworthy battles. Guadalajara suffered two sieges including one from 22 September to 3 November 1860.

The minting of the spurious coin occurred precisely during this last siege. General Severo Castillo, commander of the reactionary troops occupying the city, faced with the imminency of the siege ordered the requisition of necessary articles, imposed loans of one hundred to five thousand pesos on the rich inhabitants, and coerced the man in charge of the Cathedral to deliver the gold and silver holy vases, jewels and ornaments "because the interests of order and the triumph of the cause of the Church so demanded".

General José Velazquez de la Cadena and Lieutenant Colonel José de la Mora, commissioned to carry out the reactionary commander's instructions took from the Cathedral, the convents of Jesús María, Santa Teresa, Santa María de Gracia, and Merced, and the church of Soledad, four thousand four hundred and six silver marks which were minted without previously assaying them for fineness.

One of the leaders of the besieging army, General Pedro Ogazón, recognized by the Liberal or Constitutional Party as the Governor of the State was alarmed at the news of this unauthorized issue. From the encircling lines he sent word to the director of the Mint and prohibited him from carrying out the striking of coins ordered by the besieged General Castillo. The director, however, escaped and Albino del Moral was left in charge. He, together with the workers, was arrested and forced to carry out the production of the issue.

However, this zealous employee was able to engrave secretly on the dies a small dot between the bas-reliefs of the right wing of the eagle, near to the tail of the serpent, so that this unauthorized coin could be recognized as such. He therefore safeguarded his own personal responsibility and maintained the credit and prestige of the Guadalajara Mint.

KM-377.6 8r 1860 Ga JG with dot (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 4 November 2010, lot 6306)

Whilst the siege continued with all its attendant difficulties, Governor Ogazón. without neglecting military operations, paid attention to the fate of the silver taken from the churches and convents. As a lawyer he was uneasv about the fraudulent coinage issued. From his headquarters, established in the Belen Hospital, he issued a decree declaring this coinage to be false and prohibited its circulation. The text of the decree^{[text needed]} is as follows:

C. Pedro Ogazón, general second in command of the field army, and Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, to the inhabitants of the same be it known: That by virtue of the powers conferred upon me, and considering:
That since in the Mint of Guadalajara coins are being struck from silver taken from the churches which have only a fineness of nine dinars and twenty grains, so that the coinage is below the legal standard; the said coinage is false and cannot be accepted in any business premises; the fraud which has been committed in striking the coins is aggravated since by reducing the fineness the public is deceived, in the name of a government which has always been illegal, by suggesting that all the requirements of the law governing the coining of silver have been complied with: and,
That since the government has the unavoidable duty, not only of safeguarding society from robbery and fraud, but also that of punishing the authors and accomplices of such crimes, I have seen fit to decree the following:
Art. 1. — The circulation of money struck on and after 20 September in the Guadalajara mint by the usurping government of the capital is prohibited.
Art. 2. — All those who gave silver for minting, those who ordered the minting, and those who, in any way whatsoever have taken part, as well as those who have cooperated in the crime shall be held personally and financially responsible.
Art. 3. — The current laws on false coinage are hereby reaffirmed in all their vigour.
Therefore I order that this be printed, published and circulated and that it be obeyed. Given in the Head Quarters of Guadalajara on 17 October 1960. Pedro Ogazón. Ignacio L. Vallarta, Secretary.

The fineness of 10 dineros 20 grams had been established by the Mexican Constitutional Congress of 1 August 1823. The new born country thereby endeavoured to maintain the fineness of their silver coinage as the same as that established by the Spanish government forty two years previously when on 18 March 1771 a secret order from the Crown reduced the fineness from 11 dineros to 10 dineros 20 gms.

At midnight on 29 October the besieged began negotiations and on the following morning fire was suspended. The siege of Guadalajara ended and General Castillo, in accordance with the treaty, left the town at midnight on 2 November and, hours later, it was occupied by the victors.

The first steps taken by Ogazón to reestablish the public administration were followed by the praiseworthy decision to withdraw the money struck by his adversary during the siege from circulation and to exchange it for coins of legal tender^{[text needed]}. This was possible because of the mark which had been surreptitiously made on the coins.

C. Pedro Ogazón, Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, to the inhabitants of the same be it known: That
In use of the ample faculties invested in me, and to avoid the damages caused to commerce by the circulation of false money manufactured by the rebels of Guadalajara during the last siege of this city, and to comply with the decree given by this Government last 17 October, I have deemed fit to decree the following:
Art. 1st. — The Government of the State will withdraw all the money coined by Severo Castillo and his accomplices during the last siege of Guadalajara, to remint it with the fineness money should legally have.
Art. 2nd. — In order to effect the exchange of false money for good coins, the government names the following commercial firms of this capital, who will receive from the public the bad money and will deliver the values represented in good money: Messrs. Fernandez, Somellera Hermanos: Alvarez, Araujo and Company; Mac Goun, Jones; Jesus B. and Puga; Andres Somellera, Gustavo Westendarp; José Palomar; Luciano Gómez; Sotero Prieto; Blumen, Kunhard and Company; and Augspurg Rieke and Company.
Art. 3rd. — To facilitate this exchange, the gentlemen commissioned can adopt the method they deem most opportune.
Art. 4th. — A term of two months is granted, so that within the same the possessors of false money deliver and exchange it for legal currency, under the conditions set forth herein. After this term, the possessors are subject to penalties mentioned in the law of 17 October, issued by this government. Therefore, I order that this be printed, published, and circulated among those to whom it may concern, for due compliance. Given in Guadalajara, in the State Government Palace, on 18 November 1860. — Pedro Ogazón. Ignacio L. Vallarta, secretary.

In view of the fact that almost all the fraudulent money could be redeemed, the "falsified, fraudulent, adulterated or spurious" pieces still in existence, have a high numismatical value.

Reales issues of the Guadalajara mint (gold)

Half escudo

KM-378.2 ½E 1835 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers auction, 26 August 2025, lot 41379) 

Diameter 15 mm. 1.690 g. 0.8750 gold 

For a commentary on the Guadalajara half escudo, see here.

One escudo

KM-379.2 1E 1825 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers auction, 3 September 2025, lot 45458)

Diameter 18 mm. 3.380 g. 0.8750 gold 

KM-379.2 1E 1848/7 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 3 September 2025, lot 45459)

KM-379.2 1E 1850/40 Ga JG (Ponterio Baltimore auction, 6 November 2013, lot 21117)

KM-379.2 1E 1859/7 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, 21 January 2020, lot 23231)

Two escudos

Diameter 23 mm. 6.770 g. 0.8750 gold

KM-380.3 2E 1836/5 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 26 August 2025, lot 41368)

 
KM-380.3 2E 1853 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 15 August 2023, lot 51318)

KM-380.3 2E 1860/50 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers Chicago ANA auction, August 2025, lot 33515)

KM-380.3 2E 1861/0 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, January 2015, lot 1278)

KM-380.3 2E 1863/1 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers auction, 15 August 2023, lot 51319)

Four escudos

KM-381.2 4E 1844 Ga MC (Ponterio NYINC auction, 6 January 2012, lot 920)

Diameter 30 mm. 13.540 g. 0.8750 gold 

Eight escudos 

KM-383.5 8E 1826 Ga FS (Stack’s Bowers auction, 23 October 2025, lot 73004)

Diameter 37 mm. 27.070 g. 0.8750 gold 

KM-385.5 8E 1861/0 Ga JG (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, 12 January 2019, lot 41197)

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 was 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.

Assayer and his tenure (as evidence by coinage)

Issues of the Guadalupe y Calvo mint (copper and silver)

Copper

Quarter real (cuartilla)

Diameter 12 mm. 0.845 g. 0.90277 silver

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

The ¼ real coin was only produced in 1844. It 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 1844 (Stack’s-Bowers auction of Kirk Menczer Collection. 23 June 2026, lot 72129)

Diameter 16 mm. 1.690 g. 0.90277 silver

KM-370.6 ½r 1845 (Stack’s-Bowers auction of Kirk Menczer Collection. 23 June 2026, lot 72130)

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)

Diameter 20 mm. 3.380 g. 0.90277 silver 

Two reales 

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

Diameter 27 mm. 6.760 g. 0.90277 silver 

KM-374.7 2r 1851/0 (Stack’s-Bowers auction of Kirk Menczer Collection. 24 June 2026. Lot 73017)

Four reales  

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

Diameter 32 mm. 13.540 g. 0.90277 silver 

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

KM-375.3 4r 1846 GC MP

Eight reales 

KM-377.7 8r 1844 (Ponterio sale 154, lot 6368)

Diameter 39 mm. 27.070 g. 0.90277 silver 

KM-377.7 8r 1845 square tail (Stack’s-Bowers auction, 15 August 2023, lot 51324)

Variety with rounded cap and square-tailed eagle

KM-377.7 8r 1846 (Stacks-Bowers auction, 23 February 2022, lot 74640)

KM-377.7 1846 (Ponterio Baltimore sale 155, November 2010, lot 6323)

Retrograde 's's in '10Ds 20Gs'

KM-377.7 1846 (Ponterio Baltimore sale 155, November 2010, lot 6324)

Mule: small rounded cap and normal eagle.

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