Part One: Origins of the Mexican Mint

The relationship of the Pre-Histanic precedents of the curreny in the territory that today is the modern Mexico is of a large and vast variety. Gold powder in transparent pen internodes, pieces of polished jade, the appraised grams of the cacahuatl of the region, consituted the principal means of trade in this part of Pre-Colombian America and the immediate predecessors of metallic currency.

Colonial Domination by Diego Rivera

During the turbulent years of the Conquest, the Royal Decree of September 14, 1519, authorized Hernan Cortes to assay, smelt, and stamp carved treasure gold in large quantities in the affluent Mexico. The first mint was established in the regions named New Spain and would provide the Castilians a practice that would afterwards allow them to carry out greater and more elaborate smeltings.

Once Cortes was instaled in Coyoacan in 1521, and urged by the Royal Obligations, as well as those of his own people, he proceeded to smelt more than "one hundred thirty Castilian" - the principal unit of that era - whose fifth was sent to the King of Spain in character of the "Quinto Real."

During the period of the early colony, the unbalance between the extracted precious metals from the mines, considerable plenty, and the coined currency - extremely scarce and fractionated in pieces of high value - represented an uncomfortable hindrance for the accomplishment of commercial operations on a small scale. All of the above specified that a measure to accept all transactions be adopted with the gold or silver peso being the substitute for all currencies.

In 1522, several measures were taken to improve the Coyoacan Mint's efficiency. Official tasks were appointed by consolidating the administration of the haciendas and by the creation of new jobs linked to speficic smelting tasks. Research shows that in 1525, coins in Mexico were of great significance. The most usual ones were made of tepuzque gold (term with which the Aztecs referred to copper), which were composed of a high percentage of copper.

The same year with the drawbacks of not having a uniform currency, the visitor Louis Ponce de Leon arrived in Mexico and provided new molds to stamp the gold and silver with the expressed commission of considering the opportunity of establishing a mint in the country. Finally, with the Royal Agreement of instituting a viceregal regime in Mexican territory and with the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, the authorization for the opening of the claimed mint arrived. A certificate dated May 11, 1535, arrived with the Spainish Queen's signature at the bottom, giving a formal beginning to the extended institutional Mint life in the country.

Even though there are no documents containing the date of the first coinage made by the Mexican Mint, there is evidence that shows that this was accomplished in 1536. Great certainty exists that the first piece coined was accomplished by hand and that such labor was difficult and not appreciated.

At this time the labor performed at the Mint was of vital importance to regulate trade and consequently to contribute in the order of the colonial economy of Mexico. This labor would be growing at the same rate in which society increased gradually in its complexity.

The first issued products of the mint were of a known type called "macuquino," a term that defines pieces of uncouth coinage, irregular edges and uneven thickness. Not all the metal that was minted was well received by the Mexican population of the colony. Such was the case of the two and four copper maravedi coins (an ancient Mexican coin). They were considered so negligible that they were thrown in the channels or rivers of Texcoco Lake.

 

Although improvements such as the famoous "columnarias" coins were among the most important accomplishments of the Mint during the 18th Century, periodic and abundant modifications were made covering highly different needs, and very accredited artists participated to the point were the Mexican Mint was highly praised in the beginning of the 19th century by the most cosmopolitan travelers of the time.

A transcendental historical event in our country was that of the War of Independence. the currency in the capital had to be supplanted by numerous privincial mints, which had a short-lived existance. The roads that were leading into the countryside were not safe any more for metal or coin shipments that departed from Mexico City. Considering such circumstances, many populations found it expedient to open private mints. Those provisional mints produced pieces, which minting was, as a general rule, uncouth and laborious to those pieces made in the capital.

Naturally, such local mints had their own "mint" which was stamped and launched into circulation. Among these local mints were those of Chihuahua, Sombrete (now Zacatecas), Oaxaca, and the ancient Potosian mint center of Real de Catorce. The currency that originated in these local mints eased at that moment the currency shortage, allowing the very stressed local economies not to completely collapse during those years.

In 1848, new machinery was installed, and the Mint was moved to the ancient building of the Apartado, located on the street that still keeps that name today. It is interesting to observe the importance of the other privincial mints despite the precariousness of their resources. One of the clauses of the first lease contract of the Mexican Mint expressly prohibited the establishment of any new mint in a radious of 150 leagues (630 kilometers) from the Capital so that it would not suffer damage by its competitors.

It is important to note that such provincial mints were not the same provisional mints cited previously, although several of them were located in the same centers of population. During this leasing period, in addition to the Mint in Mexico City, other Mints flourished in the states of Alamos (now Senora), Culiacan (Sinaloa), Durango, Guadalajara, Guadalupe, Clavo (Chihuahua), Guanajuanto, hermosillo, and San Luis Potosi. All of these provisional mints were issuing currency in different time periods, and all of them closed their doors between the last years of the 19th century to 1905.

The decrease of the price of silver on the international market severely impinged on the Mexican economy because silver constituted around 1900 the principal export item of the country. The estates' measure taken in 1905, established by the Mexican Monetary Regime and stabilized currency elements until the era of the revolution. The design of the minted pieces were changed, substituting the legend "Republica Mexicana" with that of "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" - with the exception of the silver one peso coins that continued to be minted with the first legend until 1909.

The revolutionary armies proceeded to launch their own coin in various parts of the country. This, as well as the constitutionalists, was characterized by its crude molds and by the dissimilarity of its component materials. In certain cases, the mintings was not so different from those of the tlacos (old Mexican coins), which were widely circulated in the 17th to the 19th centuries and were made by local mints. nevertheless the Mint in the capital coined pieces during the short occupation of the Liberating Army of the South under the command of Emiliano Zapata.

Once the second decade of the 20th century had passed, the labors of the Mint increased at a pace never expected before. This pace expressed the quantity and quality of its issues that reflected the changing needs of the nation. The adoption in a world of circulating fiduciary coin determined a modification of the coinage in Mexico in which bronze, brass, and cupronickel coins were issued in fractional values. The minting of precious metal coins was not affected. In our country gold and silver pieces were freely circulating

The technological advances in coinage, the need for more space, and the requirements of a growing modernization made it necessary in 1970 that the Mint occupy new facilities located in the Calzada de Legaria. Following the Federal Government's policy of industrial decentralization, the easy and rapid access of material and efficiency in coin distribution, the new Mint in San Luis Potosi began working in 1983. It reduced production costs of a growing national currency demand and gave rise to an aggressive penetration policy for coinage in other countries in the international arena.

Edited by James S. Cameron

Sources:

Unidad de Bienes Culturales. Angel Fernandez. Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico.

La Casa de Moneda de Mexico a mas de 450 anos. Publishers Bookseller: Miguel Angel Porrua, 1989

www.cmondedam.com.mx/cmm/historia/hcmm_i.htm

Next Issue: Part 2: A General History of Mexican Banknotes