NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

The Galapagos Islands, located 600 miles west of Ecuador, are today best known for their rich biodiversity, as popularized by Charles Darwin in the 19th century. A recent Newman Portal user entered “Galapagos,” in search of numismatic connections with this multifarious sanctuary. With a current population of 25,000, one would not expect to find a local coining facility, and, as a province of Ecuador, there is ample coin and currency produced on the mainland. Nevertheless, a numismatist will find a number of associated items.

Five Dolares

The November-December 2009 issue of the NI Bulletin included an article by author Bill Mullan describing a modern series that celebrates the Galapagos wildlife. Struck in denominations from one centavo to eight dolares, these feature iguanas, turtles, finches, and other species. One would think these fall into the category of NCLT (non-circulating legal tender), which is commonly used by small countries to supply the collector and tourist trade. This series, however, was unauthorized by Ecudorian government and privately produced in the United States.

Counterstamp on 1893 half decimo, courtesy of Heritage Auctions

More recently, Dale Seppa wrote on Galapagos Island counterstamps, alternately described as “AR” or “RA”, in the November-December 2015 issue of NI Bulletin. These curious counterstamps, found on Ecuadorian and Peruvian silver dated c. 1900, were unknown in the U.S. until the mid-1960s. Seppa begins with a literature search (knowledge of Spanish is helpful) and analyzes the various theories regarding the origin of the counterstamps. No definite conclusion is reached, but the investigation is well-done, and the tantalizing question remains – were these contemporary, or produced after the fact? Seppa asks if any early 20th century auction catalogers mentioned these. The Newman Portal, with 5,000 auction catalogs from the 1850s to date, identifies none.

Finally, the Eric Newman correspondence has something as well. His letter of May 4, 1970, to Aaron “Buy the Book Before the Coin” Feldman observes of his visit to the Galapagos, “These are wonderful islands as they don’t even use money because the few human beings there merely keep accounts on one another.” That situation is presumably changed today, but Newman liked to acquire local money wherever he traveled, and no doubt made inquiries during this 1970 trip. Numismatics is wherever you find it, even in the Galapagos.

Link to November-December 2009 NI Bulletin on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/520989?page=24

Link to November-December 2015 NI Bulletin:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/521025?page=35

Link to Newman-Feldman correspondence
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/521911?page=170

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