1817 Texas Jola Half Real

Coin Details

Auction Record

$76,375 • VF35 • 08-02-2017 • Heritage Auctions

Description

Struck as a crude copper token at San Fernando de Bexar (present-day San Antonio), the 1817 Texas Jola half real is historically significant as one of the earliest distinctly Texan numismatic issues. The obverse bears the initials "MB" (for Manuel Barrera, who was contracted to produce the tokens) above the denomination "1/2" and the date 1817, while the reverse displays an incuse single star — a design element widely considered the first appearance of the iconic Texas Lone Star symbol that would later define the Republic and State of Texas. Governor Manuel Prado authorized the production of 8,000 of these tokens on March 29, 1817, to address the chronic shortage of small change in the remote Texas settlements, where official coinage from the Mexico City Mint rarely penetrated in sufficient quantities. The tokens were withdrawn from circulation the following year in 1818, giving them an extremely brief authorized lifespan. The Jola designation derives from a local Spanish colloquial term for these emergency copper tokens. This 1817 issue predates the large-planchet and small-planchet variants of 1818, making it the inaugural date in the Texas Jola series. The connection between Manuel Barrera's initials on the obverse and Governor Prado's authorization documents the chain of authority behind this frontier emergency coinage, issued during the waning years of Spanish colonial administration in Texas.