My latest acquisition of cheap foreign coins included some Dominican pieces, such as a nickel-clad steel 25 centavo coin, featuring an ox-drawn cart. A little investigation reveals that 25 Dominican centavos isn’t much money at all — the equivalent of a little more than half a U.S. cent. Even in the Dominican Republic, I can’t believe that buys very much.

So they probably don’t circulate much any more.  Presumably 25 centavos had a more purchasing power in 1991, though sometimes coins linger well beyond their strict usefulness (e.g., the U.S. cent). Some 38 million of them were minted in 1991. On the reverse — I think it’s the reverse — is the Escudo de armas de la República Dominicana, which, in case it’s hard to read, proclaims Dios, Patria, Libertad.

Also in the lot: a Dominican peso. The portrait is of Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez (1813-1876), one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. It’s brass, and apparently about 80 million of them were minted in 2002, so it’s a very common coin.

Again with the escudo. A quick look at images of Dominican coins shows it to be a common feature, maybe even one mandated by law.