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1 Peso - Rafael Carrera Pattern strike
| Issuer | Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
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| Currency | Peso (1859-1912) |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed bust of Rafael Carrera facing left, with finely detailed hair rendered in low relief. The portrait is set within a plain field with no inner circle. A circular legend surrounds the effigy along the periphery, reading R. CARRERA FUNDADOR DE LA R: DE GUATEMALA, identifying him as founder of the Republic of Guatemala. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central denomination and date displayed within an elaborate foliate wreath of scrolling acanthus-style leaves occupying the majority of the field. The numeral '1' appears at the top, followed by 'PESO' and the date '1860' arranged vertically within the wreath. Below the wreath in the exergue, the fineness designation '21 Q. R.' indicates 21-karat gold standard and the assayer's initial, with a beaded border encircling the entire design. |
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| Additional information |
Rafael Carrera, the illiterate former swineherd who became Guatemala's first president-for-life, was consolidating conservative rule in 1860 when this pattern was produced. Guatemala had no functioning mint of its own at the time, and coinage experiments of this period were largely exploratory — the country relied heavily on foreign silver in circulation. Copper denominations were periodically proposed but never adopted for regular issue, leaving pattern strikes like this one as the only physical record of those attempts.
KM#Pn3 is one of very few documented copper patterns from Carrera's administration. Survivors are essentially confined to institutional collections and the occasional specialized auction.