testj

Staircoins

J is for Jola (pronounced 'hoya')

1817 & 1818 New Spain (Texas) Jola (1/2 Real)

The Texas Jolas were made by Manuel Barrera and José Antonio de la Garza of San Fernando de Bexar. While that locale may not ring a bell, its current name surely will: San Antonio.

San Fernando de Bexar was the capital of Texas (then a province of New Spain) during the 1810-1821 War of Independence. Apparently, community leaders prevailed upon the governor of the province, Lt. Col. Manuel Prado, to authorize Manuel Barrera to coin 8,000 copper coins to facilitate commerce in March 1817. A mere handful of 1817-dated specimens are currently known, some of which are generally accepted as genuine, with others being regarded as of questionable authenticity.

In May 1817, Prado was succeeded by Antonio Martinez as governor and military commander of the province of Texas. In December 1818, he granted the request of José Antonio de la Garza, the local postmaster, to mint 500 pesos' worth of "small change in copper coins called Jolas, which shall circulate only through the town with values of one half of a real each." This amounts to 8,000 pieces authorized. In a town with a population of about 2,000 people, this would have had a significant impact on relieving the shortage of small change.

The petition granted also stated that "these shall be engraved with the first letters of my name and surname and the year of this date." Garza was also required to redeem Barerra's coins issued the previous year in exchange for his own.

While significant parts of the United States were at one point Spanish territory, the Texas jola is a unique issue in that it is the only known Spanish Colonial coin made in what is now the United States of America.

The de la Garza jolas first came to the attention of collectors when one was sent to The Numismatist, which published a line drawing of the piece in 1903, but was unable to provide any information to its owner. A historian knew of them in 1892 but this knowledge did not make it to numismatic circles for more than half a century. Meanwhile, the house in which de la Garza may have minted these coins was destroyed in 1912, so all information about this issue is likely to come from the coins themselves and documents in the Bexar Archives. It has been speculated that the star on the reverse was the inspiration for the "Lone Star" that became perhaps the best known symbol of Texas.

In 1959, a group of approximately 60 specimens was discovered during excavation work along the San Antonio River. The area of the find was once a 19th century campground used by cowboys. A few others have been discovered since, virtually all of which have been dug. Apparently they did not circulate long, so most are not greatly worn but, having been buried, many show corrosion. Katherine Jaeger and Dave Bowers, in their recently published reference 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens, indicate that "fewer than 100" are known of both the large and small planchet variations, and it is known that many of the survivors are impounded in bank and museum collections. Had the hoard of 60 pieces not been unearthed in 1959, this issue would be essentially uncollectible.

The 1818 New Spain Jolas appeal to Colonial coin collectors, enthusiasts of Mexican and Spanish Colonial issues, as well as Texas collectors regardless of their numismatic specialty. Even though these are rare coins, several variations have been noted, including large and small planchet coins, and a number of different dies were used. The sideways fraction in the center of the obverse stands for one-half real, which was a familiar Spanish-Mexican coin of the time.



(Above information and images courtesy of Heritage Auctions)