Featured is a very rare one real, minted in Guadalajara during the first period the mint was open, from 1812 to 1815. All coins from 1815 are rare and tough to find. The easiest is the four reales, with the scarcest being the 2 reales, followed closely in rarity by the coin pictured. The Mexican provisional mints, including Guadalajara, were set up in various parts of the country because distribution of coinage and bullion from the central mint in Mexico City was increasingly the target of thieves and insurgents. The pieces coined at these mints were often crude, especially in the early periods of operation. This is illustrated here by the unusual platchet shape, though the coin has not been clipped. Comparatively, this piece is of higher quality than seen at other mints at the time; a rare and unusual coin.
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