The mystery of the cent that should not have existed has been revealed
Ten years ago, the mystery of funny money fell into the hands of scientists and students at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima. The institution acquired 19th and 20th century Peruvian coins from dealers. But one coin, a 10-cent coin known as a dinero, stood out: it was marked “1899.” The problem was that official records indicated that no coins of that denomination were minted in Peru that year, so it could not exist.
Chemist Luis Ortega, who unraveled the mystery of the coin, said that “1899 dinero” is not listed in most international catalogs. He clarified that in rare cases when a mention of a denomination appears on the pages, there is often a “fake” mark. without any additional details.
The expert believes that a decade later, he and his colleagues have shed new light on the mystery of the coin that appeared out of nowhere. In a paper published in the journal Heritage Science, they described its possible origins and the role it may have played during a volatile era in South American history.
A series of studies that exposed the 1899 coin to X-rays and measured the light it emitted determined that the dinero was composed primarily of copper, zinc and nickel. This alloy is known as cupronickel. It is commonly used to make silverware and decorative items and has a silvery appearance but does not contain silver. According to scientists, authentic dineros produced by the Lima Mint are approximately 90 percent silver.
Ortega and colleagues also found that the 1899 dineros contained traces of iron, cobalt and lead. These impurities indicate that the coin was counterfeited a long time ago. Such impurities are typical for older alloys due to the technological limitations of that time.
“The presence of impurities combined with worn edges of the coin suggests that it was made in the 19th or 20th centuries,” — the researchers concluded. But, given that at that time this type of metal alloy was not used in Peru, then, according to scientists, this coin was created abroad. They concluded that the manufacturer of the counterfeit was completely unaware that dinero was not officially minted in 1899.
“The counterfeiter probably didn’t realize the coin didn’t exist,” — the expert emphasized. He said the influx of low-value coins was welcomed in Peru at the dawn of the 20th century. The country's economy was faltering after conflicts in the Pacific, and the government focused on printing higher denomination paper notes to repay international loans. As a result, Peruvians used coins from neighboring countries or even cut their own country's coins in half to conduct small transactions.
«Dineros were low-denomination coins that were used by ordinary people. Studying this coin and the economic and political situation that prompted its creation can be helpful. If you want to study our society, you shouldn't look at Ferrari, — says archaeometallurgist from the British Museum Laura Perucetti, — think about Volkswagen or Ford.”
Luis Ortega is not done studying counterfeit coins, The New York Times reports. He plans to meet with a collector in Lima who has coins minted from the 1830s to the 1960s. There is already another 1899 dinero in this collection, and he is looking for more.
«There must be several of them, — Ortega said.