Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz (27 July 1788 – 30 November 1874) was a Spanish lawyer who was a noted antiquarian and numismatist in the city of Cádiz, Spain.
He built up a library of manuscripts and rare books and in particular was known for his extensive collection of ancient coins and medals, many of which are now in museums in Spain and Denmark.
Joaquín Rubio was born on 27 July 1788 in the city of Cádiz, and baptised four days later in the church of San Antonio [1].
Joaquín Rubio got married in 1823, in the church of San Lorenzo [3] in Cádiz, to María Dolores Bosichy Pitaluga.
As a result, he was in contact with scholars and collectors and was described in 1852, by the Curator of the Royal Coin and Medal collection (later the Director of the National Archaeological Museum), Basilio Sebastián Castellanos de Losada, as a “learned antiquarian and famous coin collector” [ilustrado anticuario y célebre coleccionista numismático].
The reason for this award seems to be Joaquín Rubio’s co-operation with King Christian VIII of Denmark, via consular intermediaries, in agreeing to sell (or swap in some cases) duplicate rare coins from his collection which the Danish King was anxious to acquire for his own important coin collection, and which were transferred to Copenhagen in November 1847.
1858 was the year he reached the age of 70, and wrote his Will, in which he explains he has already given equal and substantial sums of money to his two children at the time of their marriages.