400 YEARS OF PERUVIAN SILVER Americas' Other Liberty Coins Very shortly after Peru was discovered in 1531 by Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro, the warfare began among the early Spaniards over the rich silver mines that waited easy plundering. After the capital was established in 1569 by Francisco de Toledo, efficient Spanish colonial rule was established, followed soon after by the first striking of silver coins that would continue for nearly 4 centuries. These four coins represent the very end of the era of Peruvian silver issues.During the Spanish Colonial period, all coins had names, portraits, and iconography of the Spanish monarchy. During the late 1700's and early 1800's many countries in the world began throwing off the mantles of royalty and colonial rule. Peru too won its independence by late 1824. Following the lead of the influential USA coin designs of the time, 1825 saw the first Peruvian coins minted that showed a variation of the newly freed republic's image of standing Liberty-a big departure from the Spanish Royalty's coins of the past. In 1858, the Peruvian coat-of-arms first appeared on coins. This Peru 4 silver coin set features the 1 sol, ½ sol, 1 dinero (=1/10 sol) and the ½ dinero. These coin types share the same design elements. First struck at the Lima Mint beginning in 1863, the design continued being minted without change until 1935. Each of the four denominations features the image of seated Liberty and the Escudo de Armas-the Peruvian coat of arms. The arms shows a Vicuna-the national animal, a Keno-the national tree, and a cornucopia filled with golden coins. 1 sol 25.00 g 1.453" x 0.105" .500 silver = 0.4019 oz-troy 1922-1935 ½ sol 12.50 g 1.183" x 0.080" .500 silver = 0.2009 oz-troy 1922-1935 1 dinero 2.500 g 0.710" x 0.047" .900 silver = 0.0723 oz-troy 1863-1917 ½ dinero 1.250 g 0.587" x 0.035" .900 silver = 0.0362 oz-troy 1863-1917
