Puerto Rico was ceded to the U.S. by Spain after their defeat in the 1898 Spanish-American War. Historically, Puerto Rico was a key part of the Spanish Empire, and its location in the northeast Caribbean played a major role as a military post in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the region. Despite offering free land to those who wanted to populate the islands, the Spanish influence waned over the decades.
Curiously, early Puerto Rico did have native gold, but those deposits were depleted within several decades. This left Puerto Rico little to fund its own governance. Spanish colonies in the Americas were expected to “pay their way,” but Puerto Rico was important to Spain as a colony. Early in the 17th century, the Spanish Crown issued the “Situado Mexicano,” which meant a semi-regular shipment of gold from the Viceroyalty of New Spain would be sent to the island for economic support.
Despite the Sitaudo Mexicano, Puerto Rico not only struggled with their economy, but also with coin and currency issues for decades. Coins from other countries circulated freely for periods. There were forced coin and currency redemptions called “macoquino,” with the first being held in 1857. With these macoquinos, the Puerto Rican government took a 12.5% exchange hit. Puerto Rico was forced to allow other coins, mostly from the Dominican Republic and Cuba, to circulate freely, but other exchanges were proven to be fraudulent, and public trust was low.
In 1884, coins from other countries were counterstamped with a fleur de lis and circulated freely in Puerto Rico. Although there were tokens and counterstamped coins from other countries, Puerto Rico didn’t actually have a coin of its own until a pattern 10 cents was produced at the Madrid Mint in 1890. PCGS has graded examples of this coin in both MS and PR in designations of BN and RB.
In 1895, Puerto Rico struck its only real coinage with the 20 cent and 1 peso coins. These were quickly followed in 1896 by the 5 cent, 10 cent, and 40 cent denominations. These coins are all silver, but the composition of the minor coins is .835 fine while the peso is .900 pure. In addition, the minor coins all have a reeded edge, while the peso features a fleur de lis design on the edge.
These distinctly Puerto Rican issues are not only lovely coins, but they also connect Puerto Rico to their original colonial Spanish roots, waning though they were. Spanish influence in Puerto Rico was declining through the 19th century because of little financial support. Between the years of Spanish control and the U.S. commonwealth status, there was a short period of time, during 1895-96, when Puerto Rico had its own coinage – albeit struck in Manila by Spain.
In another stop-gap measure addressing Puerto Rico’s dearth of circulating coins, the Spanish government decreed that the “mostly Mexican” coins circulating on the island were to be replaced by new issues made by the Madrid Mint exclusively for Puerto Rico. Mintages for these issues are substantial, but the distribution is unknown. Populations suggest that the issues were either heavily circulated, poorly distributed, or, most likely, some of both.
The mintages of these 1895 and 1896 Puerto Rico issues versus their total current PCGS populations are cited below:
Despite substantial mintages, these coins saw short production lives. Circulation needs significantly diminished their supply. Small change was in short supply in Puerto Rico prior to the exchange (for these new coins). Despite substantial mintages, the production did not continue past 1896.
In 1898, Puerto Rico became a possession of the U.S. Its citizens became U.S. citizens in 1917. Puerto Rico’s constitution was approved by Congress in 1952, and the entity’s status as a United States commonwealth continues to this day.