Honduras 1931 lempira
This specimen was lot 950 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 26 (Winter Park, FL, November 2019), where it sold for $476. The catalog description[1] noted, "Honduras, 1 lempira, 1931, NGC MS 65. Scarce first date of series, with much luster for the issue (especially on date side, the other side lightly toned), practically no marks at all." In 1931, the government of Honduras reformed the currency. The peso was dropped and the lempira adopted, with the exchange rate fixed at US$1 = 2 lempiras. A new series of coins were issued, a silver lempira (shown here), fifty centavos, twenty centavos and copper-nickel five and ten centavos. Bronze one and two centavos were added later. The new coins marked the first new issues since the early 1920's; all were minted outside the country and the old mint in Tegucigalpa closed for good.
Recorded mintage: 550,000.
Specification: 12.5 g, 0.900 fine silver, 31 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-75.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Robinson, Charles, The Coins of Central America, 1733-1965, San Benito, TX: 1965.
- Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 26, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2019.
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