North/South/Central American Coins Thursday, let's see them!

I do not collect medals but had to make an exception recently for this one. It is a medal issued during the Guerra del Pacifico (Saltpeter War, or War of the Pacific) between Peru and Chile, 1879-1883.

It was struck to help fund and support the crew of a cannon or battery emplacement on the outskirts of Lima, the capital city, as the Chileans were on the verge of capturing the city in January of 1881.
The Peruvian army had suffered a first major defeat in the defence of Lima at the battle of San Juan and Chorrillos on 13th of February 1881. This was followed by the final battle at Miraflores, just two days later on the 15th of January. The Chilean Army entered Lima two days later which they were to occupy for 2 years.

This medal commemorates a battery Emplacement named after Alfonso Ugarte, a Peruvian coronel who had died a few months earlier defending Arica from an assault by the Chilean army.
The battery was located on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Miraflores and was inaugurated on December 23rd 1879, as the medal proclaims. It was overrun and captured by the Chilean army just 3 weeks later during the battle of Miraflores.
It is an historic and tragic reminder of one of the saddest chapters in the history of Peru.

Very rare issue in silver, almost all known survivors of this medal are in copper.

(please excuse my terrible pictures - this is actually a very nice medal with much mint luster remainig )

Since @Boosibri was tired of the same threads at the top all week, and since this thread was on page 2, I decided to post something to it. Have I posted this one before? Can anyone tell me what is special about it?

This coin is ex. Kent Ponterio collection.

I picked up this gem Peruvian commemorative at the Sarasota coin show, pre-pandemic. I'm not really sure why I bought it, but it was a disappointing show and I had to buy something! This stood out in the crowd and it was a whopping eight bucks.

1981 Gold Onza struck in silver. Presumably a pattern. Unfortunately it was carelessly tested with acid by some dummy, probably to see if it contained any gold.

I found two Porfirio Diaz medals in my holdings, so I sent one to PCGS to slab for my collection and another to Stacks for sale. Here is mine.

This beautiful medal by Charles Pillet stroked the general's ego and caused him to select Pillet to design a circulating coin for the Mexican Centennial, which we know today as the Caballito Peso.

This thread needs some love.

Here is a recent addition that I purchased in the August Stack's Bowers auction.
It's a nice 1786 Mexico 1 Real Charles III in MS62 PCGS.

This coin is the brother from another mother to a 1786 Mexico 1 Real Charles III in MS63 PCGS that I also have.

The MS62 shows recut "HIS" of HISPAN on the reverse, whereas the MS63 does not.

Both are nice coins.

However I do get a little extra bit of enjoyment out of the fact that Brad used the MS63
in his book, though he mentions it as an MS62.

I know you guys have been active in the recent auctions, let's see some of that stuff posted here for posterity.

*spelling edit

While I am waiting for my coins to come back from vacation out West, I'll post this one.

The obverse was used on the Wyon-designed coins of Venezuela beginning in 1843. The reverse was used on a commemorative medal for a visit to the Heaton Mint by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1874 (BHM 2973). Enrique Cortés and Company was a large trading company dealing with coffee, hides, forest products, and manufactured items from South America. In 1904 the company merged with London Bank of Central America becoming the Cortés Commercial and Banking Company. Eventually, in 1911, the Board of Directors changed the name to the Commercial Bank of Spanish America.