BOLIVIA, LA FUERZA NACIONAL, 1850

OBVERSE: “M.Y.BELZU PRESIDENTE CONSTITUCIO DE BOLIVIA, 1850.” Manuel Isidora Belzu Humerez (1808–1865) was president of Bolivia (1848–1855) in a successful coup, toppling an unpopular government. He held democratic elections to validate his constitutional presidency. In 1850, he survived an assassination attempt when shot three times in the head, which bolstered his popularity among the peasant class.

REVERSE: “LA FUERZA NACIONAL TRIUNFO DE LA ANARQUIA” is loosely translated as “National Power in Triumph over Anarchy.” Illustrated with Hercules slaying the Hydra (multiheaded dragon), club in right hand, torch in left, singeing one face of the hydra. Beneath Hercules’s right foot are, I believe, the letters “M D A G N.”