6-8'Ed. note: This article is periodically updated to reflect the current price of most valuable coins.
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Sources used
- PCGS Price Guide: The official pricing guide from the Professional Coin Grading Service.
- NGC Price Guide: Updated valuation system from the Numismatic Guaranty Company.
- Heritage Auctions: Database of real auction sale prices.
- Red Book: Printed guidebook with historical pricing by grade.
- eBay Sold Listings: Only completed sales are considered, not asking prices.
Validation process
- Price review by condition grade using standard scales (MS, AU, XF, VF).
- Verification of varieties and errors through multiple data sources.
- Expert consultation when prices significantly deviate from the norm.
- Regular updates to reflect current market trends.
Important disclaimer
The values presented in this article are for reference purposes only. Final coin prices can vary significantly depending on authenticity, grade, and selling context. We strongly recommend having your coin certified by a professional service such as PCGS or NGC before selling or purchasing it as an investment.
Leprosy is perhaps the most feared disease in history, reported in millenary texts and universally popularized by its numerous mentions in the Bible. However, although this bacillus is not transmitted by contact but through the airways when breathing, coughing, or talking, different countries minted coins for prophylactic purposes since the early twentieth century for the exclusive use of leprosaria located in their territory.
This disease led to millennia of segregation and isolation measures for those who had the misfortune to suffer from it. In this article, we will provide all the information on this phenomenon and the best-known coins that were minted for this purpose.
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Leprosy, leprosaria, and lazarettos
Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a bacillus discovered in 1874 by the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, from whom the other name of the disease derives: Hanseniasis. It affects the skin, nerves, respiratory tract, and eyes. Leprosy is believed to have originated in India during the 3rd millennium B.C., spreading as urbanism and trade routes expanded. Documentarily, its most notable mention appears in Leviticus, sacred literature for the West. Thus, its prescriptions on ailment ended up being followed literally.
Leprosaria arose during the Middle Ages as places of seclusion. They were also known as lazarettos due to the Order of Saint Lazarus and his patron saint: protector of hospitals and lepers. Europeans brought leprocomiums to America, while in Asia they had considerable antiquity. These proto-hospitals were erected in remote areas and had facilities to cover quarantine periods for the sick.
Their use continued until a cure for the disease was developed. In fact, at the First International Conference on Leprosy (Berlin, 1897), Dr. Hansen recommended the institutionalized isolation of sufferers. Other specialists proposed the manufacture of currency for restricted use, to which patients would have access through contributions or labor. These resolutions were not mandatory but were left to the discretion of each nation. The measures were maintained until 1981 when the World Health Organization determined a treatment to cure the patient. From that moment on, the fight against the disease reached a turning point, and both the disease and leprosaria ceased to be a public health problem and became history, as evidenced by coins.
Colombia, a pioneer in coins for leper houses
The oldest known official coins belong to the Colombian leprosarium of Agua de Dios, Caño de Loro and Contratación. Bogota minted four series: 1901, 1907, 1921 (copper) and 1928 (nickel). The denominations ranged from centavo to 10 pesos. The design included a cross with the word “lazaretto”, the value, year, the legend “República de Colombia” (Republic of Colombia) and, in some cases, the national coat of arms and place of manufacture.
Venezuelan Coins
Venezuelan coins appeared in 1913 in the name of the Maracaibo lazaretto, located on the island of Providencia, in the western part of the country, while others were issued in 1916. Made of brass, they included the name of the leprosarium and the year on the obverse side, while the reverse side showed the value, from 5 centavos to 20 bolivars.
Panama: coins in the canal zone
The U.S. administration that built the Panama Canal also built the Palo Seco leper colony, producing perforated brass and aluminum coins for it in 1919.
The values ranged from pennies to dollars and bore the legends “Palo Seco Canal Zone” (obverse) and “redeemable for [value] in merchandise” (reverse).
Leprosy coins in Brazil
Brazil had four institutions that minted Lazarine coinage; however, pieces from only two of them are known. In the first place, we have the Santa Casa de Misericordia, which was minted in 1920 for Tocunduba (state of Pará) brass pieces that exhibited on their obverse side the denomination, the identification of the asylum, and the region where it was located. The reverse indicated “Hospicio dos Lazaros” (Hospice of the Lazarians).
On the other hand, we have the Colonia Santa Teresa, established in Florianópolis in 1940. This institution minted during that decade coins in brass, with the inscription “N°” and the value on the obverse. The reverse showed the initials of the hospital: “C. S. T.”.
China and the last lazarettos
In the 1980s, when other countries had already withdrawn their circulating currency, China produced coins for the hospital in Qinhu (Jiangsu province) and other prisons. Made of plastic and brightly colored, they had denominations ranging from fen (cent) to yuan. Their design indicated, on the obverse side, the legends “Tai Kee Chin Lake” (top) and “for patients’ use” (bottom); while the reverse side showed a diamond with the mark “ab-2”.
It is difficult to know whether these Chinese leprosy coins are still in use, but it is believed that they were still in use in the 1990s.
Other countries with lazarine coinage
Costa Rica did not mint specific coins. In the 1930s and 1940s, the coins used in general circulation were used but marked in a visible place to be easily recognized. For this purpose, this country chose the ingenious and practical measure of stamping a circular portion.
In the Danish West Indies, the leprosarium on the island of Saint Croix produced pieces made of zinc, of which only one 5-bit specimen survived. Of unifacial type, they showed the value and the identification of the enclosure: “Lepra Asylum St. Croix” (leprosy asylum of Saint Croix).
Japan minted Nagashima Island between 1931 and 1948 brass and aluminum coins with denominations ranging from sen to yen. The obverse side showed the value, the hospital emblem, the legends “internal use” and “Nagashima Aisei-en” in Japanese characters, and decorative elements. The reverse side was blank, except for a few pieces on which the hospital insignia was stamped. Some coins were oval and others round. In some cases, these leprosy coins were perforated.
Nigeria made brass pennies for the leprosarium in Garkida (Adamawa State). Unifacial, they showed the legends “VIRGWI” and “1D”, whose meaning we do not know. They were perforated at the top for hanging. It is believed that they were manufactured between 1929 and the 1940s when the hospital began to apply outpatient treatments.
Finally, Thailand resealed general circulation coins for the Chiang Mai asylum between the 1930s and 1940s. The only known specimen shows the countermarks of a square (obverse) and a cross (reverse), centered around the perforation and the main motif of the piece (1 bronze satang).
References and sources
Larreal Soto, Hussein (2016). Providencia: Cultural Landscape and Numismatic Heritage. Unpublished research paper. Central Bank of Venezuela, Maracaibo.
Pandya, Shubhada (2003): The First International Leprosy Conference, Berlin, 1897: the politics of segregation. História, Ciências, Saúde, 10 (1), 161-177. Reference.
Saskatoon Coin Club (2022). Leper Colony Coins. [Website online]. Reference.
Rojas Apone, Manuel (2019). The numismatics of lazarettos in Venezuela. Historical review and catalog. Caracas: Autor.
Ruiz Calleja, Adolfo (2016). Coins for lazarettos at the beginning of the 20th century. Blog Numismático. Accessed March 27, 2022. Reference.
Museologist and researcher by profession, numismatist by hobby. He was the curator of the collection of coins, banknotes, tokens, and medals of the Banco Central de Venezuela and was in charge of starting up its museum of monetary species. You can learn more about his career at Academia.edu and on Linkedin.
