BRIEF HISTORY OF MINTING IN SEGOVIA
by Glenn Murray, for
EUROMINT
ANCIENT COINS STRUCK IN SEGOVIA
The coining industry in
Segovia has a long and fascinating history which reaches as far back as the
Roman colonization of the Iberian Peninsula.
Between the years 30 and 20 B.C., the Romans, using the hammer
method, struck a bronze coin, called an “as”, in Segovia. Today this relatively abundant issue is the oldest testimony of
the name of the city, which appears spelled out in full on the coin. This was the first coin struck in Segovia,
now over 2,000 years ago. It is not especially rare, and samples can be
purchased starting at around 200 euros.
Unfortunately, no record has survived of the location of this coining
workshop within the city.
During the period of the
Reconquest of the peninsula, coin production was resumed in Segovia, beginning
with pieces struck in the name of the Emperor Alfonso VII (1126-1157). In
1136, this ruler signed a declaration in which he donated one quarter of all
the coins produced in Segovia, to the Bishop, Peter, for the construction of
the old Cathedral, Saint Mary’s. This
donation encouraged settlement, and commerce in the city, creating employment
and prosperity. Today, this donation is
the oldest known written document attesting to the coining industry
in Segovia. Many varieties of this coin –
struck in billon (copper with a very small alloy of silver) - are known today,
each one having the complete name of the city spelled out in different ways.
Billon coinage continued to
be struck in Segovia during the next reigns in the name of: Alfonso VIII (1158-1214), Henry II (1369-1379), John I (1379-1390), y Henry III (1390-1406). All these coins carried a “S” or “SE” as the mintmark, or symbols
used on coins to identify the location of the factory where they were
produced. These coins, or better
stated, all coins struck in Segovia before 1455, were produced in a workshop or
workshops, whose location within the city is unknown to us today. It is nevertheless possible that these
previous mints existed on the same location used for the construction of a new
mint building in 1455.
THE
OLD SEGOVIA MINT (1455-1730)
Henry
IV (1454-1474) inaugurated a new mint building on May 1, 1455. It was located at the Saint Sebastian corral, within the walled
district of the city, next to the Postigo del Consuelo gate, adjacent to where
the aqueduct penetrates the wall of the city.
Henry IV was known as the “Segovian King”, because he lived in Segovia,
and this new Mint would be the most important in Spain during the next 50
years, up until the gold and silver from the New World colonies began arriving
to Seville after 1500, transferring the relative importance from Segovia to
that city’s Mint.
The new Mint constructed by
Henry IV continued striking the earlier series of billon coinage, but also
began striking great quantities of silver and gold,
proving that this Mint was the most important of the entire Kingdom. Another novelty which started at this new
Mint was the beginning of the use of a small aqueduct symbol as the mintmark on all
coins, replacing the previous “S” or “SE” symbol which was then being used as
the mintmark in Seville. This “talking
symbol” identified all of the coins subsequently struck in Segovia over the
next four centuries. In this way, the
Segovia aqueduct was made known around the world, since Spanish coinage
circulated freely on all continents as the predominant world currency unit.
Alfonso
of Avila (1465-1468), brother of Henry IV, was also portrayed on
Segovian coinage when he was proclaimed briefly as the ruling prince of
Castile. His effigy appeared on a
billon cuarto,
struck at the recently inaugurated Segovia Mint.
The
Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabel (1474-1504) also struck important
quantities of billon,
silver
and gold
coinage at the Segovia Mint, which continued, for the moment, to be the most
important in the Kingdom of Castile. In
the Pragmatic of Medina del Campo, issued on June 13, 1497, Ferdinand and
Isabel completely renovated the Spanish Monetary System, with regulations that
would last to a large degree up until the eighteenth century. One of the most important measures of this
legislation was the limiting of the number of mints to only seven - Segovia, Burgos,
La Coruña, Cuenca, Toledo, Granada and Seville – since Henry IV had issued mint
privileges to many of his friends and confidants in different cities, and this
had led to a chaotic situation difficult to control.
Joanna
and Charles (1504-1555) continued striking billon
coinage as well as gold and silver at the Segovia Mint, but little by
little the Mint in Seville began taking over in importance, judging by the
quantity of coinage struck. We must
remember that all the precious metals coming from the New World colonies were
unloaded at the docks in Seville, at the Gold Tower, only two blocks from the
Mint in that city. The discovery of the
Rich Mountain of Potosi (in today’s Bolivia) in 1545, meant that beginning around
1550, an enormous avalanche of silver would arrive yearly to Seville, and this
had a profound influence on the operations of all seven Castillian mints.
Towards the end of the reign
of Joanna and Charles, a fierce spirit of competition had developed between the
different mints, each vying with the others to capture the excess metals that
were not able to be struck at the always busy Seville Mint. As a result of this competition, a special
guild of merchants developed among traders who bought gold and silver ingots at
the docks in Seville and took them to be processed into coin at the mint that
offered them the best discount on the fees charged for striking raw metal into
coins, taking into account the transportation costs for hauling the heavy loads
of metal by mule over the rough and dangerous dirt trails.
Some mints, such as the one
in Toledo, succumbed to making illegal deals with the merchants, in which both
parties conspired during nearly 20 years to reduce the weight and fineness of
the coins struck, splitting the profits among those involved in the
scheme. This fraud was finally
discovered and led to a monumental trial which concluded in prison terms, and
even death by hanging for the culprits.
During the last three decades of the sixteenth century, nearly 4.5
million kilos of silver, and 121,000 kilos of gold were struck into coinage at
the seven Castillan Mints. Of that
total, nearly 72% of all the silver, and 87% of all the gold, was processed
into coin at the Seville Mint, while Segovia struck barely 9% of all the silver
and merely 1% of all the gold. This is
why the coins from the Segovia Mint are worth much more today in the numismatic
market than similar coins struck in Seville, which are much more common.
The Mint inaugurated in
Segovia in 1455 continued to strike coinage during the entire sixteenth and
most of the seventeenth centuries.
Nevertheless, starting around 1630 the striking of silver coinage there
became very sporadic, and gold coinage almost nonexistent. On the other hand, this plant was converted
into a facility used mostly for the counterstamping of great quantities of
copper coinage already in circulation.
The last coin struck at this Mint was a 2 maravedi
copper piece, dated 1681 and struck by hammer, the same technique used for
striking all the coins issued at this Mint founded by Henry IV, which was never
mechanized. In 1686, Charles II passed
a law which prohibited the striking of coins by non-mechanical means at any
mint, which put an end to production at this, as well as most of the other
mints. Nevertheless, these mints were
not officially closed until the Ordinance of 1730, which permanently closed all
mints except the one in Madrid (founded in 1614), Seville, and the Royal
Segovia Coin Mill.
Even though we know the
exact location of Henry IV’s Mint in Segovia, today there are no visible
remains of the structure. Presently,
the location is occupied by a small plaza and a modern apartment building, even
though there may exist buried remains beneath the surface, which have yet to be
discovered and studied. The latest
document known which attests to the mint building is a report dated in 1748,
which assures that the structure was in ruins, and posing a danger to
pedestrians on the sidewalk, and as a result recommended its demolition.
With the construction in
Segovia of the Royal Coin Mill, in 1583, the facility built by Henry IV became
known as the “Old Mint”, while the more recent structure was called the “New
Coin Mill”. These two Mints worked
simultaneously – but never together – for practically an entire century
(1583-1681). The Old Mint was governed
by the Counsel of the Treasury, as were all the other mints, and always used
the hammer method of coining, same as the other mints. The Royal Coin Mill was the private property
of the King, governed by the Assembly of Works and Forests, an internal
administrative body of the Royal House, and always struck coins by mechanical
methods, never using the hammer.
THE
ROYAL COIN MILL (1583-1868)
Towards the middle of the
sixteenth century, German technology had transformed the ancient method of
coining by hammers - in use since coins were invented around 640 B.C. – into a
new mechanized process based on a rolling mill, equipped with two roller-dies
in parallel, driven by a giant waterwheel. This new process arrived quickly to Spain thanks to the Hapsburg
family ties. Towards the end of 1580, Philip II (1556-1598) closed a deal on artillery sales and troop maneuvers
with his cousin, Ferdinand, the Archduke of Tyrol, who in appreciation for
concessions made, gave two of these coin-rolling mills to the Spanish
king. The mills were ordered to be
built at the Hall Mint, just outside Innsbruck (Austria). In February of 1582, the Archduke sent six
specialized technicians to Spain, to begin searching for an ideal location –
yet to be decided – for the new mint.
Towards the beginning of the
project, it was thought that Seville would be the ideal location for the new
coin-rolling mills, since this is where the precious metals arrived from the
colonies. Other locations were also visited
and studied: Lisbon, Toledo and Madrid.
In May of 1583, and by express will of Philip II, it was decided that
the new mint would be built in Segovia, at the location of an old paper mill
on the Eresma River. The construction
began on November 7th, 1583, under the direction of Juan de Herrera
- the most famous Spanish architect of all times – who had previously met with
the German technicians and the king himself at the old mill, in order to draw
the necessary plans (which are unknown today).
The shiny new machines
arrived in Segovia on June 1st, 1585, in what is considered today to
have been the biggest and most important industrial expedition ever undertaken
in history up until then, a first in the history of the industrialization of
mankind. The convoy consisted of 25
huge wooden crates containing all the machinery, lead by 8 of Germany’s most
expert mint technicians, along with guards and other participants. Fortunately, the original Inventory
listing for the shipment still survives today in an archive in Innsbruck. The
account ledger for the day-to-day trip expenses from Innsbruck to Segovia –
which survives today in the Simancas Archive (Valladolid) - reads like an
adventure novel. Along side the prices spent, are descriptions of everything
from the tips given to the poor orphan children who were paid to cry at the
funeral of the expedition’s captain, who died when the convoy was in Barcelona,
apparently from the plague, which was endemic in certain Alpine regions that
the convoy had tried to avoid unsuccessfully, bogged down in the rain and mud.
Once in Segovia, the German
technicians took only four weeks to assemble the mills and immediately
proceeded with a trial run of the machinery.
They were very anxious to show their new coining method to the
Spaniards. The test run – 6 kilos of
copper rolled out on dies brought from Innsbruck – was performed under the
direct supervision of the Bishop of Segovia, who ordered several barrels of
wine to be opened as a toast to the Germans in celebration for the perfect
outcome of the trial run. It’s
interesting to note that the only knowledge we have of this trial run was
because the general accountant in Madrid, four years later, questioned why the
cost of the wine was put on the list of expenses for the building supplies
purchased for the construction of the new building. The Bishop was the brother of the Count of Chinchon, who was
himself an intimate councilor of Philip II, and also treasurer for life of the
Old Segovia Mint, as he would also be of the new Royal Coin Mill. These brothers were two of the King’s most
trusted confidants, and they most certainly played an important role in his
decision to build the new mint in Segovia.
Nearly all the Germans who
came with the machinery decided to stay and work at the Mint. There were also other foreign technicians
who came, such as Italian and Flemish engravers; even 9 black slaves who worked
in the foundry pumping the bellows. The
slaves were bought in Lisbon by the Mint superintendent in 1589 – for between
19,000 and 43,000 reales each – and brought back by boat as far as Toledo, and
from there by road to Segovia. One of
the slaves later escaped from the Mint, and among the remaining eight: 5 died
due to an illness in 1592, 2 were sold for a price notably more than they had
cost in 1594, and the last was ordered by the king to be sold in 1595. There is no documentary record that any
additional slaves were purchased after that experience. Little by little, the Segovians themselves learned
how to work the new machinery, but there was much resistance, and even fear of
the machinery, in the early days. We
must remember that during this period, the other Mint in Segovia continued a
brisk activity striking traditionally with hammers.
During March of 1586, the
Coin Mill began regular production of silver
coins. These pieces were the
first in the history of Spanish coinage which carried on them the date in which
they were struck, a tradition already practiced at German mints and one which
was introduced in Spain by the technicians who brought the rolling-mills from
Innsbruck to Segovia. This important
security measure was quickly introduced at all of the other Spanish mints in
1588, using the example learned at the Segovia Mint. Having the date of manufacture on each coin, as well as the mint
and assayer marks, was a very modern security measure which enabled the
identification of officials responsible for the production of each lot of
metals in the event of fraud –underweight coins or those of debased fineness –
enabling their apprehension and prosecution.
It was not until 1596 that Philip II published the definitive rules and
regulations for the operation of his private Mint in Segovia, at which time he
invited all private citizens to mint their metals at his factory, giving them
special incentives and discounts for doing so.
The first scandal at the new
Mint occurred during its first year of operation, as a result of Philip II
having secretly ordered his silver to be struck at a lower fineness than the
regulation standard. Evidently the
“Prudent King’s” conscience played a role in having him order - also secretly –
the removal from these coins of the assayer mark, obligatory since 1497. The absence of this symbol on the coins from
the new Segovia Mint caught the attention of everyone, provoking investigations
and cover-ups with the Mint’s assayer, Juan de Morales, at the center of the
scandal. Morales was a special servant
of the King, and while there were numerous accusations filed against him, and
reports of him being “actively pursued in Segovia”, he never once revealed the
secret orders he had accepted to fraudulently alter the fineness of the coins
struck from a lot of 18.279 kilos of the kings personal silver, processed in
1586 at the Royal Segovia Mill.
The king’s debasement fraud
was discovered in 1588, and quickly silenced until 1636 when it resurfaced
again in relation to the Genovese coin clippers, who robbed small bits of gold
and silver from coins. The Spanish
Treasury became worried when the standard chest of 20.000 real shipments – that did not contain any coins from the
Segovia Mill – were commanding a 2 escudo premium in Genova. The Council of the Treasury investigated the
reason behind this phenomenon in 1636, and discovered that although the
Genovese alleged they did not want Segovia coins because they had no assayer
mark to guarantee the silver content, that in reality they rejected the mill
coins because they could not be clipped due to their perfect edges. We should mention that although the actual
debasement of the coins took place only during the year 1586, it appeared to
the general public that it extended throughout the entire reign of Philip II,
since he never ordered the assayer mark to be put on the Royal Mill’s coins
during the subsequent years of his reign, which seemingly implied that all the
coins struck there up to 1598 were short of silver fineness.
Philip II never struck gold
at his new Coin Mill, instead in 1597 he began a historic new series: the first
truly fiduciary or extrinsic coinage struck in Spain, one with a
face value significantly higher than the value of the coin’s content in
metal. His plan was to eliminate the
small alloy of silver in the billon coinage, and produce the new copper coin
exclusively at the Segovia Mill, since, as he stated, the perfect manufacture
of the coins on the German rolling-mills, would be more than enough security to
compensate for the removal of the coin’s silver content. The mass production of this pure copper
series at the Segovia Mill conditioned authorities to the easy money obtained
by an excessive mintage, which after five years led to the weight and size of
the coin being reduced by half, and it being struck – by hammer - at all the
other mints as well. This abuse gave
rise to the critical economic situation which lasted most of the seventeenth
century.
To prepare the Segovia plant
for the massive striking of this copper series, a major transformation took
place, in which the silver and gold operations were moved from the large
building where they were, to the adjacent small building – the old paper mill –
and the copper-striking department was set up in the large building. The paper manufacturing equipment –
waterwheels, pulp beaters, tubs, presses, and other tools – was removed from
the small building, put in crates, and sent by ox carts to San Lorenzo, where
it was used to establish a paper mill for the monks at the El Escorial Monastery.
Philip
III (1598-1621) finally ordered the assayer mark to appear on all silver and gold
coins minted at the Royal Segovia Mill, thus putting an end to the suspicious
absence of the mark during his father’s reign.
In 1607 an extraordinarily large quantity of silver and gold were
processed into coin, coinciding with great quantities of copper coin also being
struck. The avalanch of activity
provoked a fire in the foundry which destroyed its roof. The royal architect, Francisco de Mora,
disciple of Juan de Herrera, designed a new domed roof for the foundry, leaving
us the oldest plan known today of the Segovia Mint, dated in
1607. As mentioned, Philip III also
lowered the weight of copper coins by half, in 1602, and expanded their
production by hammer to all of the Castillian mints.
Philip III was the first
king to strike the fabulous cincuentines (50 reales, silver) and centenes
(100 escudos, gold) both making their appearance for the first time in 1609,
coinciding with the beginning of a new engraver at the mint - Diego de Astor –
whom we credit with having invented the giant coins, 76 mm in diameter. These coins were only permitted to be struck
at the Segovia Mill; besides, it would have been impossible to strike coins
this big at the other mints, since the hammer method could not deliver enough
sudden force to the dies. The king used
these coins as special favors and awards, in the same way that he used the 8 escudo
gold pieces, first appearing at the Segovia Mill in 1611, while not until 1631
at other mints. These three coins could
only be struck under a special license issued by the king himself, and in very
limited quantities. Visits to the Mint
by the king and his special guests also continued during the reign of Philip
III, as did the scandals at the Mint:
secret coining at night by the founder, the incarceration of the
lieutenant treasurer, but only after he had taken the habit as a monk and
joined the Monastery across the river from the Mint in a vain attempt to
cover-up his illegal deeds, large fines
for minting excess quantitys of copper coins, etc.
Philip
IV (1621-1665) ordered the German machinery in use at the Segovia Mint, to be copied
and installed in 1661 in all the other Castillian mints (except the Old Segovia
Mint) in order to strike a new series of billon coin. This series was an attempt to remedy the
ills of 30 years of applying counterstamps to copper coins in circulation,
which had resulted from the prohibition to strike the previous series since
1627. This new series contained an
alloy with 9% silver content, but had a face value was so high that it ended up
pitching the economy into a deeper depression, and thus was discontinued after
merely 4 years. The newly mechanized
mints reverted back to striking all their coinage by the hammer method.
In spite of the grave
economic crisis, Philip IV brought many special guests with him to visit the
Royal Coin Mill. One such visitor was
the Prince
of Wales, who came in 1623, looking for the hand of the king’s sister
in matrimony. The Spanish princess
wanted nothing to do with the plan and hid herself away in a convent. Though the Prince of Wales did not get
exactly what he came looking for, he did get to take back to England many
cincuentines and centenes which he saw roll off the mills at the Segovia
Mint. According to those who were
present at the ceremonial striking, the Prince of Wales, while on the mint’s
patio, tossed a giant platter of cincuentines into the air for his confidants
to grab, and went away “very content” with his visit.
Charles
II (1665-1700) ordered important repairs and remodeling work to be done at the Coin
Mill in 1678, reformations which left us with the second known plan
of the Mint. After the construction
work was concluded, production began on a new series of silver coins struck
from melted silver ware, dishes and goblets, belonging to nobles and government
officials whom were ordered to accept royal vouchers for all the silver in
their homes, in an effort to help the economy.
The coins
struck from silver dishware carry a cross and monogram of Maria in their
design, as a special invocation to the Virgin, for better economic times.
In 1680 production began on
a new copper coin
which was so heavy, and had such a low face value, that coppersmiths bought
them up as soon as they left the mints, to melt them down as a source for
copper to work with, claiming it was less expensive than buying raw
copper. This situation led to the
prohibition of all manufacturing of copper utensils, which logically infuriated
the coppersmiths, especially when there was an embargo placed on all copper, in
any form, be it in ships at port or in coppersmith workshops. This copper series was struck by the hammer
method only, at all mints except for the Royal Segovia Mill – where it was not
produced at all - and was the last coin issued by many of the mints, such as
the Old Segovia Mint, which terminated striking in May of 1681, never again to
produce more coinage.
Philip
V (1700-1746) reformed the operations of all mints in the Ordinance of 1730, the most
important monetary legislation since 1497.
One measure permanently closed all of the mints - including the Old
Segovia Mint - except Madrid and Seville, where all of the silver and gold coin
would be struck, and the Royal Segovia Coin Mill, which would produce all of
the copper coinage to be minted in Spain.
Many historians have interpreted this order as the beginning of a
decline in the Royal Mill, indeed from thence on it was called “National
Mint”. The era of silver and gold
coinage production in Segovia was over, and cincuentines and centenes were a
thing of the past. Nevertheless, the
king specifically stated in the 1730 Ordinance that this measure should not be
misinterpreted as his desire to permanently close the Segovia Coin Mill.
In spite of the new
limitations in range of production, the brute weight of all the copper coinage
which needed to be struck in Segovia, was far more than half that of the silver
and gold production, as shared by Madrid and Seville. Since minting costs - labor and materials - was basically the
same for copper, silver and gold coins, and copper smelting burns more
charcoal, its evident that Segovia made out well in terms of labor force
employed and collateral business created for suppliers of charcoal, steel,
firewood, oil, and other materials which the coin industry consumes.
The reign of Philip V was
interrupted for less than a year when he abdicated in the name of his son, Luis I (1724), who saw his name struck
on several Segovia coins as a permanent testimony to his brief rule. Even without the attraction of seeing the
cincuentines and centenes roll off the mills, frequent royal visits continued
to the Mint. We should remember that Philip V, the first of the Spanish
Bourbons, began construction of the Palace at the Granja of San Ildefonso –
only 11 km from Segovia – in 1721, and he and subsequent kings stayed there
often, with family, court and guests.
Ferdinand
VI (1746-1758) culminated the copper coin
series of the previous reign, with the striking of a 1 maravedi coin
during his first two years, after which the Mint lay idle. In 1756, in order to provide work to the
mint officials, he ordered a curious Catalan coin – an ardite
- to be struck. The coin has no
aqueduct mint mark, no value stamped on its face, and was sent to Barcelona for
circulation there.
Charles
III (1759-1788) enacted profound and controversial monetary legislation, including two
kingdom-wide secret debasements of the fineness of silver and gold coins, but
without tampering with the assayer mark as did Philip II in Segovia nearly two
centuries earlier. Beginning in 1770,
the Segovia Mint was totally refurbished, substituting coin production on the
German rolling mills for that of screw presses, enabling an even more perfect strike than
before.
The remodeling of the old
building to adapt it to the new presses was not without scandal due to poor
planning on behalf of the architect, Francisco Sabatini, which resulted in
coiners knee-deep in water during a visit of the king to the Mint. Sabatini’s plan
from 1770, the third one known of the Mint, shows the screw presses in the
building along side the canal. During
the king’s visit, it was decided to build a new adjacent structure, on higher
ground, to house the new machinery.
This building, erected rapidly in 1772, was torn down in 1976. In spite of the technological advance at the
mint in the striking method, the rolling mills continued to be used to roll out
the copper strips, from which the blanks were later cut. The new presses were put into action while
the plaster was still wet on the walls of the new building, striking a new
series of copper coins which met with great success. This series, which featured the bust of the
king for the first time on copper issues, was produced in quantity and
continued without change until 1850, the longest lasting copper series struck
in the entire history of Spain.
Charles
IV (1788-1808) continued the popular series of copper maravedis
being struck exclusively in Segovia, issuing large quantities of coins dated in
each of the 20 years of his reign. The
new labor policy in terms of
production, begun with the installation of the screw presses, kept the
mint staff busy year round, thus avoiding long periods of inactivity such as
those which had plagued the Mint in earlier times.
Jose
Napoleon (1808-1813), is also portrayed on a coin
struck in Segovia. The invading French
forces had taken over the Mint in Madrid around the time of the fateful event
there of the “Second of May”, 1808, and had begun striking coins with the bust
and legend of Jose Napoleon, who became known as the “Intruder” king. Segovia, at that moment, was still striking
issues with dies of Charles IV – who had already abdicated – sparking an
interest among Spanish officials for expanding production there to include
silver and gold coins also. Although
the report sent from the Segovia Mint stated that this possibility was indeed
feasible, the French forces invaded and occupied Segovia and its Mint, towards
the end of 1808, and soon after began striking copper issues with the effigy
and legend of the Intruder, with dates that range without interruption from
1809 to 1813. Nevertheless, when the
French temporarily withdrew from Segovia during autumn of 1812, Segovians did
not hesitate to take to the streets and proclaim the Constitution, which had
been drawn up in Cadiz earlier that same year, and to strike a medal at the Mint commemorating the event.
Ferdinand
VII (1808-1833) began issuing coins in Segovia in 1815, after the French
had withdrawn entirely from the peninsula, and the chief engraver at the Madrid
Mint had an opportunity to prepare a bust of the new king, and get it
approved. This was the same successful
series which was begun in 1772 by the king’s grandfather and continued by his
father, and which suffered no variations except for briefly during 1822 and
1823 when Ferdinand VII was forced to use the Constitutionalist
legend. To commemorate the
restitution of the absolutist reign, reinstated with help from foreign powers
through the Sacred Alliance, a special medal was struck at the Segovia Mint, which
portrays a bust of the king on the obverse, and the crowns of France, Austria,
Russia, and Prussia, beneath the Spanish crown, on the reverse side. Another medal
was specially struck to commemorate the visit which Ferdinand VII made
to the Segovia Mint on October 24, 1817
Charles
V, the Pretender (1837) also had his name stamped into Spanish history at
the Segovia Mint, but had no such luck at other mints. One faction of the Carlista forces, led by
Zariategui with 4,300 men and 310 horses, attacked and looted Segovia, entering
by the north, from the village of Zamarramala.
It was August 3 and the Eresma River was low enough to enable the troops
to easily cross the river and climb over the wall surrounding the Mint complex,
even before reaching the wall of the city.
During the 10 days that the faction remained in the city, they were able
to strike between 8,000 and 10,000 reales in 8 maravedi coins
with the bust of Ferdinand VII, to which they had added a moustache and the
legend CAROLUS V. D.G. REX, having forced the collaboration of a retired
engraver of the Mint, in his home, to alter the working dies. On two later occasions, to prevent another
illegal Carlista-struck issue, the Mint workers dismantled the screw presses
and transported them to Madrid with the dies.
According to the explanation the Mint superintendent gave for taking the
machinery to Madrid: “the only interest
the Carlistas could possibly have in occupying Segovia is the satisfaction and
glory they attain by seeing the name of their supposed king on circulating
coinage.”
Isabel
II (1833-1868) continued the popular maravedi series beginning in 1835, assuming
the Constitutionalist
legend in 1837, and continuing it until 1850.
After prolonged studies, the decimal system was finally introduced in
1850 for all coins, and three different series of copper and bronze coins were
produced consecutively in Segovia: (1850-1853), (1854-1864)
and (1866-1868).
The last series was struck
in bronze by a French Company which won the contract at auction. The
contractors did not use the old screw presses, instead they brought 5 modern
Thonnelier-type, presses from Barcelona, and powered them via pulleys and
driveshafts coupled to a 12 h.p. turbine installed in the canal. The presses
had been built in Barcelona, where the contractors also prepared all the
working dies; only performing the actual striking of the coins in Segovia. The Mint’s foundry lay idle because the
contractors imported the blanks from France; there was not even the customary
scrap stripping to melt down. These
were also the first coins struck in Segovia since 1455 not to carry the
aqueduct mintmark, which was replaced by a small triangle.
There were three different
medals struck in the Segovia Mint during the reign of Isabel II. The first was a proclamation
(1833) which signaled the beginning of her regency, followed by another which
marked her coming
of age (1843), hastily arranged when she was only 13 years old due
to political situations. A third medal
commemorates the birth of the Prince of Asturias (1857).
Isabel II also ordered
reform work and conservation measures at the Segovia Mint. One of these projects, has left us with the
fourth and final plan we know of the Mint, which is the only
one to include the entire complex of buildings. This plan, along with the photograph taken by Laurent
in 1870, are today our best points of reference for the planned restoration of
the famous industrial complex.
The definitive closure of
the Segovia Mint had been planned since 1855, when the project for the
construction of a big, new, steam-powered Mint in
Madrid was signed into law. The funding needed to finance the
construction of the new building coincided nicely with the desire to centralize
all coining operations in one large factory in the capital of Spain. As a result, the mints in Segovia, Seville
and Jubia would be closed and their properties sold at public auction. The new Mint in Madrid was built on Colon
Plaza, and inaugurated in 1861. The
finishing of the bronze foundry and striking department at the new Madrid Mint
was delayed to give preference to the silver and gold departments, but by the time
of the Revolution in September of 1868, when Isabel II fled to France, it was
fully operational. As a result, one of
the first measures taken by the new Provisional
Government (1868-1870) was to finally close and sell the other mints.
The order to close the
Segovia Mint was given on February 5, 1869, but before that happened, mint
officials found the opportunity to strike a monetary-medal commemorating the
Revolution, with the legend “FREE SPAIN
/ NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY”, dated September 29, 1868. This was the last piece struck at the famous Segovia Mint. During the summer of 1869, the factory was
dismantled and the useable machines and materials were sent to the new mint in Madrid,
while the remainder was sold for scrap.
The only surviving machine from the Segovia Mint is one of the four screw presses, constructed in Seville in
1735, and which was ordered to be saved in Segovia as a historic reminder of
the coining industry in the city. Today
it is on display in the Alcazar Castle, adjacent to the Mint.
Stripped of all its
machinery, the Segovia Mint complex of buildings, along with its garden and
adjacent property was put up for auction on April 26, 1870, with an estimated
price of 353,087 pesetas, but obtained not a single offer was received. Once again, a second auction was held of the
complex on August 12, and yet a third on November 23 of the same year, each
time with a reduced estimated price, and still not attracting a single
offer. A fourth attempt was made to
auction the Mint on February 25, 1871, and yet a fifth on October 30 of the
same year, but no offers were received.
In 1872 there was a brief intent to reopen the Mint to assist in the melting
down of all the old non-decimal copper coinage that was being removed from
circulation, but the plan was never put into action. Finally, the Mint was put up again for auction, for the sixth
time, on January 15, 1878, this time with an estimated price of 220,680 pesetas. The only bid received was for 191,000
pesetas, and after lengthy deliberation, it was decided to adjudicate the
property to the sole bidder.
The new owner – Juan
Bautista Dodare – promptly ceded the title to a joint three-way partnership
composed of Julian Gomez Diaz (26 years of age), Gregorio Hernando Melero (55
years of age) y Fernando Nieto y Bautista (35 years of age), all residents of
Madrid. Shortly thereafter, the first
two part-owners sold their actions to the third, who would proceed to convert
the historic Mint into a flour mill.
The
first flour mill business (1879-1890) – owned and operated by
Fernando Nieto, an upper-level official of the Military Administration in
Madrid – was inaugurated on July 16th, 1879, after several minor
reforms were made to the building and canal in order to install a turbine and
other machinery that the new owner had imported. Apparently this flour mill remained open and in operation until
the death of the owner, in January of 1890.
There are reports that the flour mill at the old Mint was already closed
in the year 1892.
Shortly after the death of Fernando Nieto, his estate executor, Emilio Navarro y Sánchez, paid off the mortgage on the Mint. Nevertheless, due to the indebtedness of the inheritors, the property finally went to Nieto’s widow, María Lartigau y Desbats, a native of Bayona, France, who died shortly thereafter. The inheritors of the widow subsequently saw a preventative repossessment leveled against the Mint due to certain debts they had totaling some 11,183 pesetas. The Mint was assessed at that moment at 150.000 pesetas, in case an auction was needed to settle the debt. The inheritors of the widow made no attempt to settle their debts, and thus the preventative repossessment was converted to definite in 1902, and the decision was made to put the Mint up for auction to obtain the money owed. The auction took place in September of 1902, with a total estimated value of 108,541 pesetas: 75,500 for the property and building, and 33,041 for the flour milling machinery, equipment and tools.
The auction of the Mint failed to attract any bidders and in October of 1902 it was put up for auction again, this time with a 25% reduction in the estimated price, still receiving no bids. In November of the same year, the Mint was put up for a third auction, this time with no estimated value, receiving one bid for 35,000 pesetas. After several petitions and appeals on behalf of the bidders, as well as the repossessed inheritors, the property was finally adjudicated in October of 1903 to the sole bidders: Luciano y Mariano Puigdollers y Vinader, diamond jewelers, residents of Madrid, for 35,000 pesetas
The
second flour mill business (1907-1932) – owned and operated by the
Puigdollers brothers – was inaugurated in July of 1907. In 1910, the brothers formed a Mercantile
Society named “Puigdollers y Vinader, Hermanos”, in conjunction with another
brother, Juan. The Puigdoller brothers were very social members of Segovian society,
or at least that’s the impression they gave judging by the numerous reports in
the local press of parties and celebrations they offered at the Mint. In 1918, however, the business was dissolved
due to the death of Luciano, and the mint property was held alone by Mariano up
until his own death in 1928. On the
death of Mariano Puigdollers, the Mint property was inherited by his widow and
eight children, whom opted to sell it in 1932, for the price of 112.500 pesetas,
to Felipe Aguado Moreno, an industrialist, native of Colmenar Viejo (Madrid),
with residence on Atocha Street in Madrid.
The
third flour mill business (1932-1976) – owned and operated by
Felipe Aguado Moreno – was a continuation of the previous business, which
remained open and continued to operate.
In 1942, the owner, in conjunction with de Felipe Aguado López,
Bonifacio Aguado López, and Inocencia Aguado López, formed a Mercantile Society
under the name of “Felipe Aguado, S.A.”, with headquarters on Paseo de Santa
María de la Cabeza Street in Madrid, in continuation and expansion of the
milling, distribution, and sale of flour.
The flour mill functioned
normally until a serious fire destroyed part of the buildings on the lower
patio level on July 29, 1951. It was
during the reconstruction of the building after the fire, that a modern two-story addition was added above the main
structure on the lower patio, where it can still be seen today, altering
substantially the original Herrerian profile of the slate roof. After the fire damage was repaired, the mill
resumed operations until November of 1967, when it was finally closed and the
building mortgaged against a loan the owner took out for other purposes. In that mortgage, the value of the Mint was
estimated at 3 million pesetas, in case of default and the need for
auction. The mortgage was correctly
paid off in 1974, year in which Felipe Aguado put the building up for sale.
The abandonment of the Segovia Mint (1976-present) began with the building’s purchase – for speculative purposes – by Leopoldo Moreno in 1976, for 18 million pesetas. The new owner never set up any business in the Mint, not did he even use part as a residence, maintaining it in the most absolute abandonment with the sole hope of selling it to the public administration. In fact, different government interests had previously begun negotiating with Felipe Aguado prior to Moreno’s sudden purchase, which needless to say is what sparked his interest. In 1986, Moreno offered the Mint to City Hall for 67 million pesetas, but he subsequently raised his asking price to 1,886 million, after City Hall had begun an expropriation process in April of 1989, to take the building from him, in order commence its immediate rehabilitation as a Numismatic Museum.
Segovia City Hall, for its
part, only prolonged and exacerbated the abandonment of the Mint, resulting in
grave and irreparable damages. Ever
since the occupation of the property by City Hall in December 1989, the
Municipal government had attempted to negotiate the rehabilitation of the
building with the Regional and National governments, finally signing the
protocol of a three-way restoration agreement with them in 1998. In August of 2001 – and after a 12 year delay
– the Provincial Expropriation Tribunal resolved the final price to be paid by
City Hall: 372 million pesetas for the Mint, plus another 300 million pesetas
for interest fees due to irregularities and unnecessary delays committed by
City Hall during the expropriation process.
Since November of 1999, the Ministry of Development has had the Basic
Architectural Plan for the rehabilitation prepared, and currently Segovia is simply
awaiting the will of the local, regional, and national politicians to make good
on the signed restoration agreement.
Today, this unique monument,
constructed by King Philip II and his architect Juan de Herrera, constitutes an
integral part of the historic complex of the old city of Segovia, declared
Heritage of Mankind by the UNESCO in 1985.
Located at the very foot of the Alcazar Castle, in the most
protected historic zone of the city, the Mint was
declared a Monument of Cultural Interest, by the Regional government in 2000,
and is today considered the oldest industrial monument still standing, not only
in Spain, but in Europe and even the entire world.
WHY THE ROYAL SEGOVIA COIN MILL IS CONSIDERED THE OLDEST INDUSTRIAL MONUMENT STILL STANDING IN THE WORLD?
In order to understand the
importance of the Segovia Mint building as the premiere Industrial Monument of
all Mankind, it is first necessary to consider a few of the milestones in the
history of technology and industry.
Technology is the branch of knowledge that deals with industrial arts
and manufacturing. But what exactly is
an “industry”? Experts assure us that
the first industry developed by civilization was agriculture, and as a logical
extension, the grinding and preparation of agricultural products. This activity
did not require specially designed and constructed buildings – manufacturing
plants - for production purposes.
Much later, civilization
developed artisan industries, or handicrafts; production by hand or with simple
tools of textiles, paper, glass, metals, and even coinage. Coins were invented around the year 640 B.C.
and first produced by the hammer-struck method. It is particularly noteworthy that coins are
considered to be the first industrial product manufactured massively, in
series, and according to exact, government regulated, specifications. But all of these early, non-mechanized,
industrial activities remained basically artisan crafts, and none required
specially designed manufacturing plants.
Given the importance of a
product with such rigorous controls such as those that regulated the
manufacture of coinage, its industrial process rapidly developed into what is
considered the first “complex” or “composite” industry. This entailed the designation of a highly
specialized and differentiated labor force composed of expert technicians for
each step of the production, even more so when it was mechanized. Some specialized workers were the smelters,
refiners and assayers, to prepare the metal; engravers to prepare the punches
and dies; scale-masters to operate the delicate balance scales for weighing
brute metals, coins before and after striking, and scrap; coiners that ran the
metal through the laminating mill, annealers, who knew the exact temperatures
needed to anneal the metal strips and dies; punchers who punched the blanks
from the strip on special cutters; and blanchers to give the final product a
brilliant luster. There were also
carpenters on staff to maintain and rebuild when necessary, the giant
waterwheels and the intricate wooden spoked gears, blacksmiths who maintained
the mills and carefully lathed and prepared the dies in special Milanese steel,
etc.
But there were also many
other officials necessary to operate a mint, some named directly by the king
himself, such as the treasurer, and others that had their corresponding level
of importance, such as: the superintendent, accountants, guards, constables
(mints had their own justice systems and jails), overseers, scribes, doormen,
and common laborers and peons. On the
other hand, other types of early industries – truly artisan crafts in nature –
produced items that could be elaborated from start to finish by one person usually
working alone, thus called a “simple” industry. Even the milling of flour, though often assisted by a
waterpowered grindstone, never advanced to be more than a simple industry, as
seen by the fact that the neighbors of a mill typically took turns grinding
their own flour, giving the owner of the mill an agreed upon portion of flour
in payment.
Mints not only had a highly
diversified and specialized labor force, but they also operated under the most
strict and exact standards of any industry of those times. The entire process of product elaboration,
step by step, was controled to the finest detail by government issued and regulated
standards, including accounting in triplicate and frequent inspection visits.
No other industrially fabricated item was subject to such rigorous controls and
scrutiny, as was the manufacture of coinage, and the reason is quite evident.
The famous Pragmatic of
Medina del Campo, enacted into law June 13, 1497 by Ferdinand and Isabel, can
be considered the most comprehensive and detailed ordinance ever issued until
then to regulate – step by step - the manufacture of a “complex” industrial
product. This 500 year-old document
specifies not only each of the technicians needed at a mint, but also the
procedures each were to follow, as well as the exact specifications of the finished
product: weight, fineness, legend, engraved design, etc. The Pragmatic of 1497 is the first law
enacted to establish a specific mark on a finished product which represented a
guarantee, or quality control. In this
case, the assayer’s symbol guarantees the silver or gold fineness, which
coupled with the mint mark, permitted the identification of the factory where
the item was produced, and who was in charge of the most critical part of the
production, the mixing of the alloy.
Coins also carried their value – representing the exact weight the
product was to have - stamped in the legend, as well as the effigy of the
monarch and the name of the Kingdom, as ultimate symbols to inspire confidence
and represent government control over the product.
Some of the product security regulations in the Ordinance of 1497 were expanded upon in 1588 with the issuing of a law which required the year of the coin’s manufacture to appear stamped on each individual piece. Far from an esthetic measure, as many numismatists have suggested, this was a security control which permitted an even more exact identification of each lot of metal processed into coin. It is very significant that 400 and 500 years ago, there was an industrially manufactured product which already had all the security controls we consider a characteristic of modern manufacturing today, such as the code on a carton of milk which indicates the plant where it was manufactured, the lot number, date of production, and even in the cases of some products, an indication of the name of the person who was in charge of that production. No other “complex” industrially manufactured product in those times, came close to the production controls to which the manufacture of coins was subject. And imagine, this whole process was mechanized in Segovia as far back as 1583.
Given the importance that
money – coinage – has always had in society, the mechanization of the industry,
did not take long to come about. It
shouldn’t surprise us that when mechanical methods were first applied to the
manufacture of industrial products, that one of the its earliest and most
important uses would be to strike a better quality and more perfect coin, and
not necessarily a more rapid or economical means of production. A greater uniformity among circulating
coinage made counterfeiting more difficult, thwarted clipping, and greatly helped
to guarantee the ready acceptance of each piece as transactions took
place. This exact uniformity from one
coin to the next – a basic concept of our modern coins and paper money today –
was impossible to achieve using the rustic hammer method of striking.
Around 1508, the Florentine
artist, Bramante, struck medals on a screw
press and some 30 years later another Florentine, Benvenuto Cellini, used a
similar press to strike small coins.
Around 1555, several screw presses were installed in the Paris
Mint. This new mechanical technology
did not achieve widespread acceptance due to protests of coiners, which was a
typical attitude toward industrial innovation, still existing today among
workers who fear loosing their jobs to a machine. Besides, the screw and thread mechanism on these early presses
was not durable enough to mass produce coinage.
Another type of mechanical
coining apparatus was devised by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) whose notebooks
show a drawing of the first example we know depicting what appears to be a coin
rolling
mill. This type of machine,
coupled to a waterwheel (although they were also driven
by horses) pressed the coin design onto a strip
of metal which passed between two roller-dies. These machines allowed for production of
coins with much larger diameters since the mechanical force was applied to only
a narrow band of the coin’s surface at a time, which progressively advanced as
the strip moved between the turning dies. The hammer-struck and screw press methods, on the other hand,
applied all of the pressure to the entire coin surface all at once, entailing
other types of limitations. These new
coining mills spread in usage during the mid-sixteenth century to various mints
in the central European region of Germany, Austria and Hungary which were
controlled by the Hapsburg family, whose dominion also included Spain.
Its interesting to note that
the German city of Augsburg had one of the most mechanically advanced mints in
the entire world during the sixteenth century; which is of course, is where the
printing press was invented one century earlier. Indeed, this was the center of world technological development in
those days. The manufacture of coinage
was still the most sophisticated “complex” industry that existed then and this
new mechanical procedure was only known in Europe. The rest of the world only knew “simple” or artisan industries
which were generally not mechanized except for the milling of grains. Widening the perspective, we should consider
the total absence of complex industries on the American or African continents
in the sixteenth century, and note that China, although very developed in an
artistic and handicrafts sense, did not mechanically produce coinage until
1889. Although the Chinese produced
coinage as far back as before the Christian era, the technical methodology
always employed pouring molten metal into casts,
the same as practiced in several regions of Africa until very recently.
The
illicit clipping of coins was perhaps one of the most serious monetary
problems at the dawn of the modern age, and the factor which most influenced
the drive to mechanize its manufacture.
Starting around 1550, enormous amounts of silver began arriving to Spain
as a result of the discovery of the “Rich Mountain of Potosi” (today Bolivia)
in 1545. In those days, Spain sent
large amounts of money to Germany, Italy and Flanders to sustain the Empire and
its wars. This money, in the form of
poorly struck coinage with rough, irregular and uneven
edges, was subject to the illicit practice of the coin
clippers. These people clipped small bits
of gold and silver from old coins, and returned them to circulation one by one
at their face value, keeping the clipped metal as their illicit reward. These underweight coins in circulation made
it necessary to constantly weigh during transactions. In large shipments of money that Spain sent to the rest of
Europe, the actual weight of the shipment was subtracted from the total face
value of the coins, counted one by one, multiplied by the official weight the
coins should have. The resulting
discrepancy – product of the unscrupulous coin clippers – caused reclamations as
well as serious inconveniences and delays.
The new coin rolling mills
produced almost perfect coinage with such uniform edges that the illicit coin
clippers could not dissimulate their practice as they did on the uneven edges
of the hammer-struck pieces. Since all of
the engraved detail showed up perfect and clear on the milled coins, it was
much more difficult to make outright counterfeits than it was to copy a
hammer-struck issue. The advantage this
new technology provided was so evident to Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, who
received large shipments of Spanish coinage, that he didn’t hesitate to give
two of the rolling mills to his cousin, Philip II, king of Spain. These mills, built specifically for Spain,
were constructed in the Hall Mint, near Innsbruck, Austria. The industrial convoy which brought this
equipment to Segovia in 1584, along with the most expert technicians available
in those days, is considered today to have been the largest, most important and
complete transfer of complex industrial technology ever carried out over such a
long distance up until then in the history of mankind.
The Royal Coin Mill of
Segovia was the first mint in Spain which used machinery to strike coinage.
Mechanical minting systems were only introduced at two other mints –
Madrid and Seville – and not until the year 1700. For this reason, the coins from the Royal Segovia Mill – which
had a small aqueduct as the mintmark – stood out at first glance in circulation
during more than a century (1586-1700), as the most perfect made, and this was
readily apparent to anyone who casually looked at a handful of coins.
The building in Segovia in
which the state of the art German coin rolling mills were installed, was built
by the personal architect of Philip II, Juan de Herrera, Spain’s most
prestigious architect of all times.
Herrera counted on the continuous assessment of the German technicians
who came in 1582, from Augsburg, Germany, specifically to assist in the
selection of the most ideal site, and the construction of what would be the
largest and most important mint in the entire world. We shouldn’t forget that Phillip II was the most powerful ruler
of those times, and the one who also had the largest quantity of raw gold and
silver that needed to be struck into coinage.
Another group of German technicians – those who left Innsbruck in 1584
with the convoy and arrived to Segovia in June of 1585 – successfully rolled
the first trial pieces off the mills in July of the same year, thus
inaugurating the most sophisticated mechanized industrial manufacturing plant
ever built.
The other European mints – a
half-dozen or so - which had similar machinery were old and simple structures,
reformed and adapted for the installation of the mechanized systems. On the other hand, the structure in Segovia
was designed and built from the beginning as a truly modern departmentalized factory.
The original design of the building took into account the specialized
machinery needed for each step of the production line. Giant bellows blasted air into the smelting
furnaces, rolling mills driven by waterwheels processed the metal strips with
smooth rollers until the desired thickness was attained. Other mills equipped with engraved roller
dies, rolled the coin design onto the metal strips. There were lathes, also driven by waterwheels, which were used to
form the steel rollers and dies for the mills.
Levered cutting machines punched coins from the strips after they had
been rolled with the coin impressions.
Intricate balance scales weighed ingots and coins, etc.
The Segovia plant was
carefully designed to distribute each phase of the production in departments
which permitted a logical progression of the work in the same way that modern
factories are designed around the production line. In an identical way to modern factories, the Segovia plant
manufactured – mechanically – millions of identical pieces in series.
If we consider the
specialized nature of each mint technician, the minute details regarding staff
and production regulations spelled out in monetary legislation, the appearance
of symbols on each individual product to guarantee its quality, the
sophisticated nature of the machinery that was brought to Segovia from
thousands of miles away, that enabled tamper-proofing the production of a
product which had always been subject to manipulation and fraud, and that all
this was installed in a building designed specifically as a departmentalized
manufacturing plant, for the industrial production of millions of identical
pieces in series – all in the year 1585 – we are left with no doubt that the
Royal Segovia Coin Mill is truly, one of the first buildings of its kind in the
world; a genuine premiere monument of
the history of industrial development of civilization.
But perhaps the most
remarkable thing about all this is that the physical structure of the Segovia
Mint still remains standing intact, virtually as it was designed more than 400
years ago (although it is devoid of machinery). Various factors have coincided in the survival of the Segovia
plant, while many other historic industrial buildings in the rest of Europe,
among them other mints, have disappeared.
Very few industrial plants, new or old, survived the bombing suffered by
Germany and surrounding countries during the wars of the twentieth
century. Urban development in Europe
has also done away with many old industrial plants which, unfortunately, have
never received the consideration given traditionally to other historic
buildings such as palaces, castles, cathedrals, etc. In fact, it has not been until the 1980’s that man has even begun
to recognize that old factories are indeed monuments, just as important as
other traditional types of monuments, forming an integral part of the Heritage
of Mankind, as a testimony to the development of civilization.
Contrary to what happened to
the cities where other old European mints were located, Segovia has never
suffered major destruction in any war, and its population is barely over twice
what it was 400 years ago. The little
growth that Segovia has experienced has all been in the southern districts of
the city, while the northern side – where the Mint is located - has remained
virtually as it was centuries ago, thanks to the steep valley of the Eresma
River, which has acted as a shield in the protection of the Mint. The utilization of the Mint as a flour mill
from 1878 to 1976 helped guarantee its conservation. Indeed, the Mint’s greatest enemy in over 400 years has been the
abandonment to which it has been subject since 1976, and which shamefully still
continues today.
If we consider that coin
manufacturing was the most highly developed industry in the sixteenth century,
and that there were only a half-dozen or so factories similar to the Segovia
plant of prior construction, none having been as technically designed or
surviving until today, we arrive at the conclusion that the Royal Segovia Coin
Mill, is without a doubt, the oldest manufacturing plant still standing in the
world today – primere symbol of the Industrial Heritage of Mankind – deserving
of our study, care and deepest consideration.
Posted by
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
on September 10, 2002
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