1888 1 sucre Ecuador The Spanish first landed on the coast of what is now Ecuador in 1526, led by Bartolomé Ruiz. Spanish conquistadores under Francisco Pizarro invaded the country in 1532 and two years later were in control of the area. Pizarro, acting in the name of the Spanish crown, appointed his brother Gonzalo governor of Quito on December 1, 1540. A short time later Francisco Pizarro was assassinated, and Gonzalo Pizarro led a rebellion against Spain. His independent rule lasted until April 9, 1548, when forces of the Crown defeated his army at Jaquijaguana and he was executed. Colonial Ecuador was at first a territory directly under the rule of the Viceroyalty of Peru, one of the two major administrative divisions of 16th-century Spanish America. In 1563 Quito, as Ecuador was then called, became a presidency, or a judicial district of the viceroyalty. From 1717 to 1723 the Quito presidency was under the authority of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in Bogotá, but it was then returned to the authority of the viceroy of Peru until 1739, when it reverted to New Granada. The first revolt of the colonists against Spain took place in 1809, but it did not last long. A second attempt in 1810 resulted in a revolutionary government that was suppressed by Spanish troops in 1812. Revolutionary forces, led by General Antonio José de Sucre, whose profile is shown in the obverse, did not win final victory until 1822. Ecuador became the Department of the South, part of the confederacy known as the Republic of Colombia, or Gran Colombia, which also included Venezuela, Panama, and Colombia. In 1830 Ecuador withdrew from Gran Colombia and gained independence under its present name.

Released 7/2/2000