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4 Pesos Fuertes Gold 'Bouvet' Pattern
| Issuer | Republic of Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1867 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Obverse description | Central device features a lion passant to the left, positioned at the base of a palm tree surmounted by a radiant star, the national symbols of Paraguay rendered in bold relief. An owl or eagle perches to the left of the lion, referencing the Paraguayan coat of arms iconography. The circular legend reads REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY around the upper periphery, with PAZ Y JUSTICIA across the centre field and 4 PESOS Ftes along the lower exergual area. The engraving displays the refined neoclassical style characteristic of the Paris Mint workshops under Bouvet. The field is smooth with moderate relief throughout the design elements. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1867 - Pattern - Extremely Rare |
| Additional information |
Paraguay in 1867 was in the third year of the War of the Triple Alliance — the most devastating conflict in South American history, which would ultimately kill over half the country's population. That the government of Francisco Solano López commissioned gold pattern coinage during active, losing warfare says something about the political theater of maintaining sovereign monetary appearances. These pieces were engraved by Bouvet, almost certainly in Paris, and never entered circulation — the infrastructure to produce them domestically did not exist, and the war ensured it never would.
Fewer than a handful of examples are documented across major collections.