Nicasio de Gumucio Echichipea

Nicasio de Gumucio Echichipea, another relative of mine, made his fortune as a banker and as a businessman in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Such was his wealth that he even minted his own coins. 

Around the face of the coin, it has an inscription: “Pagar a la vista, Nicasio de Gumucio – 1876 or “Pay on demand, Nicasio de Gumucio - 1876”. Inside this inscription, there are two over- lapping olive branches, and in the middle, the denomination “cinco cent.”  The other side had “Departamento de Cochabamba” imprinted surrounding a lion and a tree.

Nicasio also built an impressive “casero” in Cala Cala, Bolivia called El Rosedal, a large three-story mansion, large enough to house several families at once. 

Nicasio was a person who appreciated the finer things life had to offer.  He and his brother, Manuel, spent five years in England and the European Continent, returning to Cochabamba in 1861 to settle down. 

On the 20th of April 1864, Nicasio married Mercedes Lavayen Stuch and they settled down for a long and happy life together.