4,000 axe-monies returned to Mexico

[BillA]

a most interesting article which should be read by collectors

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/57553

Tn has had threads on these axe-monies, Richard Ray and "Van" Fossen had boxes of them
these were apparently bought in the '60s and recently shipped to Spain to be auctioned
the auctioneers told the Mexicans and the owner gave them to Mexico

- the implication being that possession is now illegal ?

 

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[xcopperstax]

One has to wonder how often people find these metal detecting in Mexico? Neat story!

 

[A2coins]

I wouldnt even think it had value I find lots of axe heads I should hold onto some those may have made their way to Mi. Lol

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

That’s one of the most interesting blogs I have ran across!!
I’m going to have to spend a few days reading the content.

 

[BillA]

That’s one of the most interesting blogs I have ran across!!
I’m going to have to spend a few days reading the content.

I spent 2 weeks, read every single post; lots of stuff for every taste - well civilized anyway

 

[Plumbata]

Interesting story thanks for sharing! I have a small collection of these Mesoamerican Axe/Hoe monies, and the hoard pictured appears to consist of the most common thinnest and presumably latest style. The least appealing one I have is exactly like the ~4k examples here, and only weighs around 7.4 grams and is about as flimsy and thin as the sheet aluminum used in beverage cans, quite underwhelming. The earlier Andean (or higher denomination or more specifically ceremonial) ones are much heavier and more strong/rigid, still too thin to actually function as anything but razors but rather more interesting than the crude thin cheapo examples you see in this hoard.

This bit intrigued me:

"In a 1548 letter, Francisco López Tenorio, the Spanish governor of what is now Oaxaca city, four new hachuelas were worth five Spanish reales, but once they were worn down, their value plummeted to 10 for one real. They would then be collected, melted down and remade."

I fail to understand how 1 axe-coin could go from 1.25 reales to 1/10th of a real especially since they didn't "jingle jangle" like familiar coinage and wouldn't really "wear down", especially to less than 1/10th their original weight. Maybe only bright shiny polished copper was fully valued and corroded/tarnished examples exchanged for less? My hunch is there may have been a few different recognized denominations that the Spaniard was ignorant of.

Something you all may find interesting is that cocoa beans were used as daily small change, and at least for the more substantial axe-money 1 piece was worth 8,000 beans. People have calculated that the rough translation of buying power to modern dollars has beans worth about 5 cents each and the axes worth about 400 bucks, which is some pretty impressive purchasing power!