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4 Pesos Fuertes '4' Countermark over 1/4 of Spanish colonial 8 Escudos
| Issuer | Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | One-quarter segment of the reverse of a Spanish colonial 8 Escudos gold coin of Charles III, retaining a portion of the original heraldic design featuring the quartered royal arms of Castile and León with floral ornamentation. The outer arc displays the milled edge of the original coin, and a partial circumferential legend is visible, reading '•AUSPI' as preserved within this cut quarter. The design elements reflect the high-relief hammered style characteristic of Spanish colonial gold coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Following independence, Paraguay faced an acute shortage of fractional gold coinage. Rather than strike new pieces, the government authorized countermarking existing Spanish colonial gold — in this case, physically quartering 8 Escudos cobs and punching the surviving quarter with a '4' to certify its value as 4 Pesos Fuertes. The result is a coin that is less a minted piece than a fiscal improvisation, carrying two monetary systems on a single fragment of metal.
KM#E2 classification places this among pattern or emergency issues, and surviving examples are exceptionally rare — the violent act of cutting a cob guarantees no two pieces are alike in shape.