Owner Comments:
The bronze Spanish Provisional Government 1870 5-centimos coin is 25mm in diameter and weighs 5 grams. It has a mintage of 287,381,000. While it would not be until 1906 and 1904 before another striking of the 1 and 2-centimos coins, the 5 and 10-centimos coins were minted seven years later in 1877. After 1879, they would not be minted again until 1937 and 1940.
Why is there such disparity in the minting of the aforementioned coins? The answer isn’t economic because there were sufficient coins to meet public demand in 1877. However, I believe that they were needed in 1877 for political reasons.
Since the ascension of Queen Isabella II to the throne of Spain in 1833, her reign and in particular her line of succession in the House of Bourbon was constantly disputed. The first pretender to the throne was Isabella’s uncle, Carlos V.
Under the influence of Maria Christina, Isabella’s father King Ferdinand VII worked with the Cortes Generales (Spain’s parliament) to establish a family line of succession in place of the existing male-only line (Pragmatic Sanction of 1830). Since Ferdinand had no sons Isabella II become queen upon his death and her mother Maria Christina became regent.
Snubbed by this change in the law, Carlos V would never become king. This led to the first Carlist War (1833-1840) to depose Isabella II and make Carlos V the King of Spain. Supported by France, the United Kingdom, and Portugal this insurgency by the Carlists was repelled. The Carlists as a political party survived well into the 20th century.
After the exile of Queen Isabella II to France, House of Savoy, Amadeo I was appointed King of Spain on November 16, 1870. With his appointment, the Carlists saw an opportunity to claim the throne of Spain albeit by force. Hence the Third Carlist War (1872-1876). After a failure to effectively govern, Amedeo I abdicated his claim to the throne on February 11, 1873. This triggered the founding of the First Republic of Spain. Unfortunately, anarchy prevailed until Isabella II’s son, Alfonso VII was appointed King of Spain on December 29, 1874. With broad public support, the Carlists were effectively quashed.
The Basque Country and Catalonia were Carlist strongholds. It is in these regions that in 1875 the Carlist pretender to the throne Carlos VII issued his own 5 and 10-centimos coins proclaiming himself the legitimate king of Spain. These coins were of the same size and composition as the 1870 Spanish Provisional Government coins. With a 5-centimos mintage of 50,000 and a 10-centimos mintage of 100,000 these coins effectively circulated with the already circulating Spanish Provisional Government coins. For the most part, Carlos VII coins only circulated in the Basque Country. Some sources maintain that these coins were minted in Brussels. Yet other credible sources have that these coins were minted in the far northeast corner of Spain, in the autonomous Basque Country town of OÑATE.
Answering the claims of Carlos VII, Alfonso XII, reigning King of Spain oversaw the issuing of 5 and 10-centimos coins of his own. 1877-79 saw respectable mintages in the millions of both the 5 and 10-centimos coins. The reverse legends of both these coins read, “Constitutional King of Spain.” The obverse legends read, “Alfonso XII By the Grace of God.” Thus, these two coins left nothing to interpretation as to who was the legitimate king of Spain. Spain finally enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity leading up to the end of the 19th century.
While the legends on the Alfonso XII 5 and 10-centimos coins are standard legends used before the Glorious Revolution of 1868, it didn’t hurt to have Alfonso XII’s bust on millions of coins that everyone in Spain handled. To proclaim him the constitutionally appointed king on the face of the coin is the icing on the cake that Carlos VII could not claim.