Casa de Moneda (the Mint)

In front of you stands one of the oldest buildings of old Santafé and, for more than three centuries, one of the most closely guarded: this is where the gold and silver of the New Kingdom of Granada were turned into coins.

1Gold with the king's stamp

On 1 April 1620, a royal decree from Philip III ordered a mint to be founded in Santafé. The task went to Captain Alonso Turrillo de Yebra, and minting began in 1621. The first pieces were macuquinas: lumps of metal cut by hand and struck with a hammer, with ragged edges, valued for their weight rather than their shape.

Under Ferdinand VI, in the mid-18th century, the mint was enlarged and production was mechanised. Round coins arrived, with regular edges and a better finish, much harder to clip or to forge.

2A treasure from the river

When the Banco de la República opened its first Numismatic Museum here in 1961, it brought together 1,032 pieces. Among the highlights were some four hundred gold escudos struck in Santafé between 1628 and 1636, recovered from the Magdalena River and known as the «Mesuno treasure».

The mint kept striking coins until 1987, when production moved to Ibagué. For more than three and a half centuries, the country's money came out of these courtyards.

Declared a national monument in 1975, it is now a Banco de la República museum that tells Colombia's economic history through coins, banknotes, dies and machines.

3What to look for

• The long wooden balcony, typical of Santafé architecture.
• The stone doorway, grander than the rest of the whitewashed front.
• The main courtyard, if the door is open: the arches and columns on its north and west sides are original.