Owner Comments:
The next two entries are in stark contrast to most of the pieces in this set for two reasons. First, they were produced well after the death of Matthew Boulton. Second, they represent a notable deviation from the European theme thus far. The coinage for the Province of Buenos Aires originated with a request made in March of 1822 by the Hullett Brothers & Company (Doty, 1998). The original proposal was for two denominations, but only the smaller of the two would come to fruition. The result was a copper coin worth roughly one-tenth of a silver real, which is referred to as a décimo. Matthew Robinson Boulton waited no time preparing the order, and four million décimo pieces were shipped in April of 1823 (Doty, 1998). A second order would see another four million décimo pieces delivered to Buenos Aires by 1825.
Obverse: The obverse design is remarkably similar to the current Argentine national coat-of-arms. It depicts an elliptical shape, the interior of which contains two outstretched hands shaking while holding a pike with a Phrygian cap resting at the tip. The upper half of the elliptical shape is distinguished by horizontal lines that fall behind the pike and cap, which presumably is meant to symbolize the blue sky. A radiating sun appears immediately above the center of the elliptical shape. A wreath of two branches tied together flanks both sides of the elliptical shape but does not completely engulf it. This entire design is contained within a beaded border and a thin raised rim.
Reverse: The reverse depicts a similar wreath as the one on the reverse, but this time it completely engulfs the entire design. Contained within the wreath is the legend
BUENOS AYRES UN DECIMO, which conforms to the curved nature of the wreath. The date,
1822 appears in the center of the reverse but is completely enclosed by the legend. This entire design is contained within a beaded border and a thin raised rim.
Edge: Plain edge
Alignment: Medal
Notes: The current piece is an 1822 copper pattern of the adopted design. Although I have not meticulously studied this piece, I did not note any major differences between it and the currency issue in the next entry. As I continue to study scarce pieces such as this, I have come to recognize an odd pattern. In this case, there was a nearly decade-long lull when only a handful of examples came to market, which was abruptly ended by no less than four examples appearing in less than two years. I have also noticed other instances of this trend with pieces that have fewer than five confirmed examples. I suppose the adage of never knowing what to expect is somewhat true. Nonetheless, I was very pleased to have the opportunity to add this example to my collection without the frustration of waiting years for it to resurface in the market. Although it is somewhat at odds with the bulk of my collection, it signifies a short but important part of Soho's history.