A coin commemorating the 100th. Anniversary from Constitution Pledge

Uruguay

Uruguay means “river of the painted birds” in the native Guaraní language. With just 176.215 km2 / 68,037mi2, Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America (Suriname is the smallest, not counting French Guiana and the Falkland Islands). Uruguay is on the east coast of the continent, sandwiched between the two largest countries: Argentina and Brazil.

Uruguay has a population of 3.5 million with nearly half living in the capital, Montevideo. The thinly populated interior mainly consists of a Pampa area: grassy plains where cows and sheep peacefully graze. The ‘Cerro Catedral’ is the highest point in Uruguay. This hill is situated in the southeastern part of Uruguay and has an elevation of 514 m, making it the “lowest highest point” in South America. The climate in Uruguay is subtropical and pretty humid. Summers are long and hot, and the winters are short and mild.

The original indigenous population in Uruguay were the ‘Charrúa’, ‘Chaná’ and ‘Guaraní’ that lived off hunting and fishing. In 1680, the Portuguese invaded and founded the town of ‘Colonia do Sacramento’. Soon after, the Spanish colonized Montevideo. They defeated the Portuguese, and from that moment Uruguay – just like Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia – belonged to the Spanish ‘Río de la Plata’ empire. The indigenous population were either killed by the settlers or died from diseases brought from Europe.

Uruguay’s early 19th century history was shaped by ongoing fights between the British, Spanish, Portuguese, and colonial forces for dominance in the Argentina-Brazil-Uruguay region. In 1811, Jose Gervasio Artigas, who became a national hero of Uruguay, launched a revolt against Spain that resulted in the formation of a regional federation with Argentina. In 1821, Uruguay was annexed to Brazil by Portugal, but Uruguayan patriots declared independence from Brazil in 1825. With the support of Argentine troops and after 3 years of fighting, they defeated Brazilian forces. The 1828 Treaty of Montevideo brought Uruguay independence, and the nation’s first constitution was adopted in 1830. The remainder of the 19th century under a series of elected and appointed presidents saw interventions by – and conflicts with – neighbouring states, political and economic fluctuations, and large inflows of immigrants, mostly from Europe.

In the early 20th century, José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez was a prominent politician. Nicknamed Don Pepe, served two terms as president of Uruguay. He was widely praised for his introduction of his political system, Batllism, to South America and for his role in modernizing Uruguay through his creation of extensive welfare state reforms.

Obverse

The obverse contains a “Republic allegory” (as Marianne) facing right. We have seen this kind of imagery previously, in “Liberty” on coins from Brazil, and this 400 Réis.

The coin has the text “Morlon” behind the neck. Pierre-Alexandre Morlon was the engraver of this coin and a famous medallist and sculptor. The coin has the country name and year around the edge. The name, “REPÚBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY” translates as “Oriental Republic of Uruguay”, the formal name of the country.

Reverse

From 1863, Uruguay used the Peso. 1 Peso is made up of 100 Centésimos. This coin is worth 10 Centésimos, written as 10Cts. The text above, “CENTENARIO DE 1830”, refers to the centenary of the first constitution of Uruguay, adopted in 1830. The 1936 coin of the same value used the same design without this text. Uruguay issued three coins to mark the centenary. This 10 Centésimos in Aluminium-Bronze, a 20 Centésimos in silver, and a 5 Pesos in gold.

To the left of the value is the Mintmark of Monnaie de Paris, the Cornucopia

To the right of the value, is the torch, which is the privy mark of Henri-Auguste-Jules Patey, General coin engraver, Monnaie de Paris (1896-1930).

The reverse of the coin features a puma walking left in front of sun rays, with the value below. Solitary and silent, the puma featured on the coin is a formidable hunter. Powerful jaws and unrivalled night vision allow it to sneak up on its prey undetected. Intriguingly, the puma isn’t classed as a big cat as it is unable to roar. Native pumas were thought to be extinct in Urugay. However, there have been sightings of Pumas in recent years.

Numista lists six circulation coins featuring pumas. Four of these are from Uruguay, and the other two are from neighbouring Argentina. Numista only lists 18 non-circulating coins featuring pumas.

Numista does list 5912 coins featuring cats or felines – what is your favourite? Let us know!