The Mystery of Money That Shouldn't Exist

Scientists recently analyzed a Peruvian 10-cent coin of unexplained origin .

A decade ago, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima, a mystery involving money caught the attention of scientists and students. The university had acquired a number of 19th- and 20th-century Peruvian coins from local dealers for the research of chemistry graduate students.

A 10 cent coin called a "dinero" features the imprint "1899" on it.

Among these coins, a 10-cent coin known as a 'dinero' stands out with the '1899' stamped on it. However, it is worth noting that there is no official record confirming the existence of this coin in 1899 in international coin information sources. Luis Ortega and Fabiola Bravo Hualpa, two researchers at the university, decided to solve this mystery.

In a paper published in the journal Heritage Science last year, they revealed the results of X-ray and light analysis of the coin, which showed that the dinero was made of a nickel silver alloy, unlike the official Lima Mint coin which contains about 90% silver.

At the same time, they found that the 1899 dinero contained traces of iron, cobalt, and lead, implying that the coin may be a forgery from an earlier period . The combination of these impurities is also characteristic of vintage alloys due to the limited technology of the period.

Dr. Ortega and Ms. Bravo Hualpa hypothesize that this coin may have been produced abroad, and that the makers may have been completely unaware of the non-existence of official dineros in 1899. In the economic and political turmoil in Peru at that time, low-value coins like the dinero became popular, and counterfeiters took advantage of this opportunity to create fake coins .

However, research is ongoing, and Dr. Ortega plans to continue exploring the history and context of these fake coins, which could yield important information about Peruvian society and economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.