KM-644 $2 1914
This is a Guerrero 1914 2-peso, a GB-213 early strike, an early strike as the eagle side (GB die 3) does not have a radial die break through the E of PESOS, as all the later GB-213 strikes have. The sun side, though, has been faced off in a jeweler’s lathe and nicely engraved:
PRESENTED TO / G. C. CAROTHERS / BY / GENERAL EMILIANO ZAPATA / CUERNAVACA / DECEMBER 3RD, 1914.
One of many appearing in the Mexican Revolution was the American George C. Carothers, raised in Mexico and a grocer in Tampico, Tamaulipas, on the Gulf Coast. He was appointed, by the State Department prior to the Revolution, to represent the American community in Torreón, Coahuila, a city without a formal State office. The Consular Agents were not professional diplomats but businessmen acting as honorary consuls, and were by no means disinterested observers. After General Francisco “Pancho” Villa conquered Torreón on 1 October 1913, in the second phase of the Mexican Revolution (the revolt against the dictator Victoriano Huerta), Carothers was attached to Villa as a Special Representative. The State Department believed Villa was a potential victor in the Revolution, and felt they should have a representative-informant in the Villa camp. Villa, in his pre-1916 romance with the Americans, accepted Carothers, maybe even felt it a diplomatic coup having an American attaché around. Carothers encouraged Villa in this, perhaps overstating his connections to the American government.
Originally under the banner of the Constitutionalist Army, Villa eventually split with the First Chief of the Constitutionalists, Venustiano Carranza, in 1914, when Carranza stopped Villa from advancing on Mexico City after Villa’s important victory over the Federal Army at Zacatecas on 23 June 1914, by denying him coal for the railroad engines that transported his army. After Huerta fled the country on 15 July 1914, Carrancista general Álvaro Obregón marched into Mexico City unopposed on 14 August.
Carranza was uneasy, his political control shaky, feeling the breath of both Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata down his neck, and was subsequently displaced from Mexico City by the forces of Zapata on 24 November 1914. Villa commanded a national army (Army of the North) with a local agenda, Zapata commanded a local army (Liberating Army of the South) with a national agenda (the Plan de Ayala)). Villa felt he could make common ground with Zapata, and sent Carothers to Zapata’s headquarters in Cuernavaca, Morelos, to arrange a meeting.
Carothers, ever the opportunist, appears in photographs taken at this time, with Zapata and his generals. And, on 3 December 1914, Emiliano Zapata gave George Carothers a Zapatista Dos Pesos coin. Carothers obviously had a sense of history, and kept this coin, subsequently having it engraved.
Zapata agreed to meet Villa in Xochimilco, a small town just outside of Mexico City on 4 December 1914, where they agreed on their common hatred of Carranza. They both entered Mexico City on horseback in triumph on 6 December, Villa paid his respects to the nominal (Conventionalist) President of Mexico in the National Palace, sat in the President’s Chair with Zapata beside him, sending a powerful image of the real power behind the throne. Villa was at the height of his power, commanding the largest army in Mexico, in the national capital. But Villa was a local from Chihuahua, having the chance of claiming the Presidency of Mexico he declined, claiming he was uneducated and unfit for the position, he frittered it all away when he quit listening to his advisors, started making command decisions on his own, ignored advise and allowed Carranza and his general Álvaro Obregón to regroup. Zapata returned to Morelos and applied the Plan de Ayala, Villa attacked an entrenched Obregón and lost, and attacked again and lost, and attacked and lost again, and limped back to Chihuahua, the Army of the North dissipated. Villa never was completely vanquished but also never did win again on a national scale, remaining a local terror in Chihuahua, denying Carranza actual state control.
Zapata was assassinated in 1919 on the order of Carranza, Carranza was shot in 1920 attempting to remain in power behind a puppet president, Villa was assassinated in 1923, the action likely abetted by President Álvaro Obregón, who was also shot in 1928 while attempting to return to the Presidency.
The state of Guerrero produced an impressive amount of coins from different locations, Atlixtac , Cacahuatepec, Cacalotepec, Campo Morado, Chilpancingo, Suriana and Taxco, as well as coins with the legend ESTADO DE GUERRERO.
Examples of Guerrero coins have the denominations of 2c, 3c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c and $1 and $2.
KM-638 Estado de Guerrero 2c (Stacks-Bowers NYINC Auction, 15 January 2019, lot 43712)
KM-635 Estado de Guerrero 3c
KM-636 Estado de Guerrero 5c
[image needed]
Estado de Guerrero 10c
[image needed]
Estado de Guerrero 20c
[image needed]
Estado de Guerrero 50c
KM-641 Estado de Guerrero $1, variety with dot after Peso (Stacks-Bowers ANA Auction, 20 August 2021, lot 41211)
KM-643 Estado de Guerrero $2 (Stacks-Bowers Auction,3 June 2022, lot 72105)
KM-644 Estado de Guerrero $2 (Stacks-Bowers ANA Auction, 20 August 2021, lot 41210)
This unlisted Guerrero coin is a coin that my records show I bought from Harvey Bruns on 15 December 1969. I have long known it was unlisted but only recently discovered the connection with the state of Morelos. On the obverse, the left cactus branch and two leaves form a distinctive equilateral triangle. Recently while surfing the internet for revolutionary coins for sale, I noticed that triangle on a coin offered and thought “finally a second example”. But upon viewing the reverse, I saw that it was a Morelos 1916 10 centavos (GB 276).
GB-276 10c 1916 Morelos
Both Morelos and Guerrero are small adjoining states but this was a very surprising and exciting discovery. In many ways it is similar to the relationship of the extremely rare Suriana two peso (GB 223 & 224) and the extremely rare Campo Morado two peso (GB 177) except that both of those coins show the date 1915.
If you look at the similarity of both 10 centavos coins, it seems reasonable to believe that the same engraver created all the dies. This the same area (Campo Morado) where several “Guerrero” one peso obverse dies were defaced (although not totally removing the “UN PESO”) and combined with C.M.GRO reverses. All the large eagle examples seem to have these defaced peso obverses.
I guess my question is: were the coins listed as “Guerrero” also minted in Campo Morado if the defaced pesos listed under “Guerrero “ were combined with Campo Morado 50 centavos? Then by extension, were the 10 centavos under “Guerrero” and “Morelos” as per the first paragraph also minted in Campo Morado?
Finally, David Hughes has suggested that, given their rarity, these might be trial strikes. Perhaps, when Severo Hernández was cutting dies, he made a pair of eagle dies for Morelos, Emiliano Zapata’s home state, and conducted a few trial strikes. Interestingly, these coins are dated 1916, a time when the Zapatistas retrenched into Morelos.
This is a new find in the Guerrero Dos Pesos. The die combination is well known and it actually made its debut in Howland Wood’s The Mexican Revolutionary Coinage 1913-1916, published in 1921, where we find this particular die combination listed as 30a (see his plate XIV) which he uses to illustrate a sub-variety of the standard two pesos “Sun over Mountains” Guerrero type. Other catalog numbers have been assigned to this particular unique die combination, which is always listed as struck on a silver planchet (i.e. Guerrero 12h by Leslie-Stevens) but current collectors may be more used to Guthrie-Bothamley’s Mexican Revolutionary Coinage 1913-1917 (hereinafter “GB”) catalog numbers, which would put it as GB-218, that being a unique marriage of their dies Obverse V and Reverse F, which are the same die numbers found in Carlos Amaya’s Compendio de la Moneda Revolucionaria Mexicana, who lists the silver strike as his A-GO-161.
Obverse V Reverse F
This coin is struck on a copper planchet and to my knowledge it is previously unreported in such metal. Learning of the existence of this coin triggered a search (not exhaustive) on the most common references and auction catalogs of important revolutionary collections, revealing no listings or records of sales. Interestingly, such research and analysis of actual die state and strike of many photographs of the silver strike reveal that this is very likely a “trial strike” of freshly prepared dies prior to their use for regular production of silver coinage, something that others may call a “pattern”, while I prefer the first term. This conclusion is easy to reach since the copper striking reported herein lacks the die breaks and die damage present on both sides (in addition to other die breaks that appeared later on and even the die clash evident on most pieces): further, the coin was carefully struck with good pressure on a good planchet leaving a complete impression of all legends and die features, something that I have not seen on the regular silver strikes which suffer from weak and incomplete strikes. It is worth mention that at this time I know of two specimens of the copper strike and both feature a good and complete strike in a degree not found on the silver ones.
As with any newly discovered types or varieties there is a need to rule out the possibility of having a counterfeit, particularly in this specific series where some copper counterfeit strikes (which seem to be made from impact transfer dies) are known and have even been reported as real. My analysis of these coins rules out that possibility based on style, strike, size, edge reeding and my personal experience handling this type of coins, supported by the opinions of several numismatic friends who have examined it. Should you decide to study the coin presented herein further, you will note that there are practically no available good (complete) silver strikes from which to produce transfer or electroplate dies or even a mold to cast a similar piece. Also, since this is a unique die marriage of dies V and F as identified above, you may not resort to “copying” or using one side of a well struck coin for the obverse and that of a different well struck coin for the reverse. Moreover, as mentioned above, this is the earliest die state I have found for this particular set of dies.
One of Verne Walrafen’s favorite mystery coins was a boldly reengraved Guerrero 1914 Dos Pesos that included a “SUR” in the sun. He obtained this piece, considered by him an important new discovery, from an old collection sold by Jess Peters in April 1975. Verne pictured it multiple times in his Mexican Revolution Reporter (MRR), 1976 to 1982, in illustrations, seeking information, and even offering to sell it once. It was an unusual fully-struck coin, 27.03 grams, distinctive. Details were heavily reengraved over an existing die, with SUR (south) set in the sun face. The eagle die was in an incredibly late die state. He was always wondering, any story behind this possibly unique coin? In this article, I am presenting the start and finish of these dies, and mention a few ideas on the origin of this enigmatic piece.
The GB sun die B originated on GB-210, die combination (1/B). It was next used on GB-212 (2/B). Plate 1/ left, shows the sun die on GB-212, which makes an attractive type coin of the series when in a nice strike and planchet.
At some point the sun die clashed with the eagle die, resulting in clash marks in the rays. Sun die B was subsequently heavily reengraved (Plate 1, right). Angel Smith notes the reengraving was crudely made, possibly with a screwdriver or a knife, by running it through the lettering and rays so as to widen the details. The resulting letters are bold and enlarged (in the first Y of JUSTICIA Y LEY, you can see the original serif on the foot of the letter Y now bisecting the new stem of the Y), with heavy rays and additional volcano smoke. The sun face appears to be a punch made for the job{footnote} Incuse eyes and SUR lettering would be difficult to engrave on a die, especially with a screwdriver or a knife.{/footnote}, impressing the design into the die. The resulting sun is heavily modified, larger, with low incuse eyes and “SUR” added above the eyes. The SUR appears to be in the die. There are no indications of a counterstamp, such as sharp (punched) edges or flattened reverses{footnote}I have not examined the coin under the microscope, but under 10x handlens.{/footnote}. The SUR was eliminated on the latest strikes.
Plate 1. Sun die “B”, GB-212 (left), later heavily modified GB-UNL SUR (right)
Plate 2. Eagle die 2, GB-212 (left), late die state GB-UNL SUR (right).
The GB eagle die 2 originated on the die combination (2/B), GB-212 (Plate 2, left). Die 2 was subsequently used on the scarce GB-211 (2/A). During the GB-211 striking, the dies clashed{footnote}This shows GB-211 was struck after GB-212.{/footnote}, resulting in sun rays superimposed on the eagle (the so-called Radiant eagle, also noted on some reales coins of the República). The eagle die, especially the rim area at the top, appears to be modified (tool marks[?] suggest it was chipped, but not dressed) for reengraving which never occurred, or die shaping to continue use after clashing. This modification appears on the clashed GB-211 and continues during the striking of the GB-UNL (2/D). The (2/D) variety typically appears as a poor strike on lighter planchets (mass of two examples: 21.30 grams and 23.42 grams), and is rarely found struck up. The eagle strike on the SUR piece (Plate 2, right) is likely the most complete strike of the latest die state known.
Richard Long noted, in his auction catalogue description of the SUR in the Walrafen sale {footnote} Long, Mail Auction Sale #95, Walrafen Sale, Richard Long, Langlois, OR, November 2004{/footnote}, that he felt he had seen this strike or a similar piece somewhere. The final version of this die combination does not have the SUR in the sun die.
There were two later strike pieces without SUR in the 1996 Cortina sale{footnote} Long, Mail Auction Sale #79, Cortina Sale, Richard Long, Langlois, OR, October 1995{/footnote}, one of these a plate photo in Amaya{footnote} Amaya, Tricolor Compendium of Mexican Revolutionary Coinage, Carlos Amaya, Monterey, Mexico, 2015{/footnote} as A-GO-151). Angel Smith has subsequently turned up a third piece, along with a uniface sun die example.
The early Guerrero 1914 2-Pesos strikes are heavier than the later strikes. The late 1914 strikes appear to end with GB-218, with one example massing 14.75 grams{footnote} Even lighter strikes are reported. Angel has seen one at around 12 grams{/footnote}, well over 10 grams lighter than earlier strikes. Subsequent 1915 Zapatista mint activities had smaller outputs of silver coins and larger issues of copper (base metal) coins.
Sun die D or its predecessor was used on multiple 2-Pesos varieties: GB-213, GB-214, and GB-UNL (2/D), therefore suggesting (2/D) was struck later in the series. As noted above, the SUR strike, using eagle die 2, was adjacent to the GBUNL (2/D). Both were apparently struck prior to the always poorly struck and light weight GB-218.
The die pairing was a reengraved die with a usable eagle die. By probable accident, or being the only available eagle die, they used the original pairing of GB-212, but it is tough to call the GB-UNL SUR a GB-212-VAR. The planchet was punched out of a cast and rolled strip (Richard Long called it a cast planchet), and superficial casting pits, impurities or pecks are obvious in the SUR photos. The SUR planchet is a respectable 27.03 grams; subsequent strikes without the SUR are 26.79 grams and 23.46 grams (ex-Cortina, in Long, 1996), and 25.8 grams (Angel Smith). The reeded edge matches other Guerrero 2-Pesos. The ring is the same as a GB-UNL (2/D): possibly, the same batch (alloy) of silver was used in striking the SUR and the (2/D). The SUR piece was reeded and struck in a Zapatista mint, struck hard to bring up the relief, with a medal rotation die alignment. The SUR appears to be a significant variety in the Guerrero 2-Pesos series.
The SUR strongly suggests the Liberation Army of the South (Ejercito Libertador del Sur), the Zapatistas of General Emiliano Zapata. The “new” engraving, mass and complete strike suggest a presentation piece or a pattern. It could be considered a mint sport, except that more than a few were struck, including possible circulation (softer) strikes. Edge taps and pecks on the SUR show it was carried around or circulated. The uniface example is probably smoothed on the eagle side, notes Angel.