Copper ¼ real — 1820
Necessity cuartillo · KM# B4 · Restrepo 104
Historical and Issue Context
A royalist plaza in 1820: Santa Marta remained in the hands of Ferdinand VII’s authorities while much of New Granada was already fighting for independence. Facing a shortage of small change, the plaza struck crude coppers. In 1820 —the last year Santa Marta produced coinage— it issued cuartillos and 2-real pieces.1
Not the Santa Fe mint: this cuartillo does not come from the Bogotá mint. It is necessity copper from an improvised coastal mint. The official lions-and-castles ¼ real (NR and Popayán) is a different series; so are the later republican quarter-reales (KM 85).2
1813–1818 background: Santa Marta royalists had already struck coppers in 1813 (initials S.M. and F.VII). A royal order of 26 February 1814 recalled them. In 1817 the cabildo asked for small change to be restored; Viceroy Montalvo eventually authorized new pieces, and a bando of Sámano dated 14 December 1818 recalled them again because of counterfeits.1 The 1820 type is therefore the last Samarian issue, not the first.
Brief circulation: the royalist plaza fell in 1821. Surviving specimens often show little pocket wear and, instead, soft or off-center strikes and defective planchets — traces of wartime haste rather than long commercial use.2
Key Details Visible on the Coin
- Reverse (left): a simplified crown above the fraction 1/4; a three-towered castle at left; a sword and pyramid of cannonballs at right; date 1820 below. The strike is slightly off-center to the right.
- Obverse (right): a cross divides the field into four quarters: S (upper left) and M (upper right) for Santa Marta; a castle at lower left; a sword and cannonballs at lower right.
- Border: denticulated rim on both faces; the module is not a perfect circle.
- Metal and surface: copper with a brownish-orange patina, irregular grain, and pitting typical of these emergency issues.
- Type match: the date 1820, fraction 1/4, letters S/M, crown, castle, and war trophy correspond to the KM# B4 / Restrepo 104 type documented by Numista.3
Notes
1. Tesorillo — “Los cobres de Santa Marta” (opens in a new tab): summarizes Barriga Villalba (Casa de Moneda) on the 1813 issues, the 1814 royal order, Montalvo (1817) and Sámano (1818), and describes the 1820 type (cuartillos and 2 reales), citing Buttrey, The Coinage of the Americas (ANS, 1973).
2. CoinVarieties — Santa Marta 1820 1/4 real (opens in a new tab): distinguishes this royalist copper from the colonial NR/Popayán quarter-reales and later republican ones; notes that the 1821 royalist defeat limited circulation.
3. Numista N# 18073 (opens in a new tab): KM# B4, Hernández #11, Restrepo #104; copper, 2.15 g, 21 mm; obverse S/M + cross; reverse crown + 1/4 + 1820; variety with or without pellets under the sword.
4. Krause–Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins, KM# B4; Restrepo, Coins of Colombia, #104 / 104.1; Hernández, Monedas y Billetes de Colombia, #11. Catalog numbers only; no guide prices are quoted.
5. Sedwick and other houses describe the type as royalist necessity copper, with a crude strike and variable weight (e.g. 1.65–1.9 g in recent lots). That is type evidence, not authentication of this specimen.