Jorge Proctor

Jorge Proctor was born in Panama City, Republic of Panama, in 1971. After graduating from St. Mary’s School, he enlisted in the United States Navy in March 1993. Having completed 20 years of military service, he retired in February 2013.

Research has always been Jorge’s passion. Happy to spend many hours at the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, Spain, as well as many other archives and repositories of historical information located in Latin America, Jorge has produced a steady stream of publications on Spanish numismatics in Latin America. In October 2001 Jorge wrote an article for the magazine of the American Numismatic Association, The Numismatist, entitled “America’s First Official Coinage”, earning an honorable mention as part of the Heath Literary Award. In 2005 Jorge published his first book, “The Forgotten Mint of Colonial Panama: A Look Into the Production of Coins in America During the 16th Century and Panama’s Spanish Royal House for Minting Coins”. This book is the first specialized work dedicated exclusively to the rediscovery of this little known mint established in Panama in 1580 under orders from Spain. In recognition of this academic work, Jorge won two awards in 2006: an Extraordinary Merit Award from the Numismatic Literary Guild and the prestigious Javier Conde Garriga Award in Spain.

The Javier Conde Garriga Award in the field of numismatics has been awarded since 1959, and among its previous winners are renowned names such as Humberto Burzio (1960), Dr. Ernesto Sellschopp (1964), Antonio Barriga Villalba (1970) and Dr. Thomas Bisson (1983).

Other numismatic publications written by Jorge include:

“The Mint of Tierra Firme (Panama)” in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 17, No. 1, West Palm Beach, Florida, 1999.
“The Mystery of the Assayer Cartouche from the Wreck of the Atocha – Solved!” in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 24, No. 1, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2006.
“The Plata and Oro Corriente of the Americas” in Plvs Vltra Newsletter. Vol. 25, No. 1, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2007.
“Origins of the Letter ‘R’ in the Central Design of Spanish Colonial Coinage” in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 1, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2010.
“Half-Maravedi Coined in the New World! Spanish ‘Blanca’ and Their Mintage in Santo Domingo” in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 2, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2010.
“La Casa de la Moneda de Panamá en el Siglo XVIII” in La Gaceta Numismática of the Spanish Numismatic Association, No. 181, Barcelona, June 2011.
“The Illegal Mint Office of Cartagena, 1655” in Numismatics International Bulletin, Volume 47, Numbers 1/2, January/February 2012, Dallas, Texas (of co-authorship with Herman Blanton).
“Silver ingots from the wreck of the Maravillas linked to Cartagena” in Numismatics International Bulletin, Volume 47, Numbers 5/6, May/June 2012, Dallas, Texas (of co-authorship with Herman Blanton).
“The Queen’s Jewels and the 1715 Fleet– Sifting Fact from Myth”, in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 32, No. 1, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2014 (of co-authorship with Phil Flemming).
“The Assayers of the Mint of Potosi during the Reign of King Philip III (1598-1621)” in Numismatics International Bulletin, Volume 49, Numbers 5/6, May/June 2014, Dallas, Texas.
“The Assayers of the Mint of Mexico During the 16th Century Pillars Coinage, 1536-1571(?)” in Numismatics International Bulletin, Volume 50, Numbers 1/2, January/February 2015, Dallas, Texas.
“Who Were Mexico City Mint Assayers L and J (1677-1723)?”, in U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association Journal, June 2015, Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Alonso Rincón, Ensayador y Tallador en las Casas de Moneda de las Provincias del Perú – Su participación en México y España Peninsular” in Aportes de Numismática e Historia Argentinas y Latinoamericana (magazine), Instituto Bonaerense de Numismática y Antigüedades, Vol. IV, Buenos Aires, 2016.
“Las Monedas de Vellón Acuñadas en el Nuevo Reino de Granada en 1622 y 1626”in the Boletín Numismático de la Fundación Numismáticos Colombianos (NUMISCOL). No. 100, Year LIII – 1st Semester of 2016 (Part one) and No. 101, Year LIII – 2nd Semester of 2016 (Part two), Bogota, Colombia.
“The Assayers of Mexico During the Reigns of Philip V and Louis I” in U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association Journal, September 2016, Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Identity of Monogramed Assayer-mark YA Discovered”, in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 34, No. 2, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2016.
“The Start of Production of the Habsburg Shield Coinage in Mexico in 1571 Confirmed!”, in Plvs Vltra Newsletter, Vol. 34, No. 4, West Palm Beach, Florida, 2016.

Jorge Proctor is a currently a corresponding member of: The Bonaerense Institute of Numismatics and Antiquities, of the Bariloche Numismatic and Philatelic Center, of the Numismatic Research Institute of Peru, Honorary Life Partner of the Bolivian Numismatic Society, Honorary Member of the Numismatic Meeting Point of Guatemala, Honorary Member of the Panama Numismatic Association, and a District Representative for Panama for the American Numismatic Association.