Commemorative Coin “1779. Not without Spain”
The Legacy has the honor of presenting the Commemorative Coin, issued by the Royal Mint & National Factory of Currency, on the occasion of the signing of King Carlos III in 1779 giving official support to the Thirteen Colonies that revealed against British power. A fact that changed the direction of history and the profile of the North American map as we know it today.
From The Legacy we want to lead by example giving a wide diffusion to this important historical fact. The first coin was printed in the spring of 2019, it is a silver coin with the face of the Spanish King Carlos III on the front and the logo of our association on the back. We have been presenting this coin as a token of gratitude to the individuals that have been contributing to the knowlegde of our legacy.
“1779. Not without Spain”
With this exceptional limited edition coin, we celebrate the 240th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of support by the Kingdom of Spain to the troops of General George Washington.
It was June 21st, 1779, when His Majesty King Carlos III signed the Spanish Monarchy’s official support of the thirteen North American colonies, thereby declaring war against the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It was an act of international politics that would alter the course of history, both in Europe and in America. The geography, politics and culture of the territory of the United States of America changed, becoming what it is today, the most powerful country in the world.
George Washington had pronounced long before this date that without the support of Spain, the success of his troops would not have been possible, nor would the wishes of the new nation to distance itself from British domination thereby transforming the foundations of English power after its declaration of independence on July 4th, 1776.
The project, “1779-Not without Spain”, was born from the idea of disseminating a totally unknown chapter of our history with the intention of it serving as a reference and also increasing curiosity about this event in order to initiate the start of studying and sharing the unknown contributions by the Spanish people to the North American nation. Both countries remain largely unaware of the roots and ties that bind them from long before the epic American Revolution of the eighteenth century.
This coin, measuring 60 mm in diameter, depicts on its obverse the busts of His Majesty King Carlos III and General George Washington, the first President of the United States, facing each other. It has been made according to two busts from hand-crafted coins from the eighteenth century. The first is by Mr. Tomás Francisco Prieto, a general engraver from His Majesty’s mint, for the award medal "For Merit". The second, crafted by the French engraver Pierre Simón Benjamín Duvivier, is from the coin struck in Paris in 1789 commemorating the liberation of the city of Boston by George Washington on March 17th, 1776. Both of the original coins are kept in the “Casa de la Moneda” Museum in Madrid.
The reverse of the coin is completed with a reference to The Legacy Foundation, promoter of the celebration of the aforementioned Treaty of 1779, as well as with the crowned “M”, the mark of the Royal Mint of Madrid, where it has been designed and casted.
On the reverse side of the coin also appear the Coat of Arms of Carlos III and the characteristic “columnar motif” taken from the vice regal Carolingian coins, the famous royal pieces of eight or silver “duros”. This symbol inspired the creation of the US dollar sign whose abstraction ($) is now universal. Under these appear the famous monetary mottos UTRAQUE UNUM (from both, one) and E PLURIBUS UNUM (out of many, one), for the Spanish and American, respectively, and provide the Latin reference to their strength as nations, as per their indivisible territorial unity. The reverse side is completed with an allusion to the legend of the official support provided in 1779 by the Kingdom of Spain to the nascent United States of America. It also shows the thirteen stars, symbolic of the same number of founding colonies.
The Coin has already reached several points of the peninsula and the North American territory.
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1779. Not without Spain
This project has been made possible thanks to the generous contributions of our sponsors Navantia, Santander and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering.
