The graphic figure on the left shows some typical denominational markings. In fact, the US monetary system has roots in Spanish reales, with 8 reales equivalent to one dollar, 4 reales to 50 cents, 2 reales 25 cents (two bits), one real 10 cents, and half real 5 cents. The escudos are the doubloons, and the reales are the pieces. Perhaps you have heard American folk tales with mysterious references to gold doubloons and pieces of eight. For example, R = 1/2 real, 1R = 1 real, 2R = 2 reales, 2S = 2 escudos, and 8S = 8 escudos. You can often tell the denomination by 'R' and 'S' marking for reales and escudos. The denominations have associated numeric values, e.g., one-quarter, one-half, 1, 2, 4, and 8. The presses did a much better job than the hammers used to produce cobs.ĭenominations - There are two major denominations of Spanish colonials: reales for silver coins and escudos for gold coins. Milled coins were made by rolling the silver and gold into sheets of uniform thickness and punching out coin blanks, or planchets, for striking in large screw presses. If a cob was overweight, the minter simply clipped a piece off.Įventually the crude manufacture of cob coins was replaced by more modern minting technology. However, they were of proper weight, and that is what mattered to Spanish officials. The size, shape and impression of these cobs was highly irregular. The Spanish word cabo (English cob) refers to the end of the bar. The strike imparted a Spanish pattern, or part of a Spanish pattern, into the coin. To hasten this process, bars of silver and gold were hacked into chunks of proper weight and struck with heavy hammers between crude, hard-metal dies. They were therefore exploited and carried back to Spain. The rich deposits of precious metal in the New World were too much for Spanish royalty to resist. At the highest level there are cob coins and there are milled coins. Methods of manufacture - There are two major types of Spanish colonials, and several sub-types. It is important to know the kings of Spain during this period, as their names and portraits appear on many coins. You can learn from this summary, but it is just a starting point. There are also pre-1600 coins and small denominations not addressed. For instance, Spanish colonies in Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the Philippines produced small amounts of coinage, but they are not included here. Coin catalogs and reference books have much more detail. This page discusses some these details and gives approximate values. These coins look alike, with subtle differences in mint marks and other small details, so it takes detailed knowledge to tell them apart. They circulated as far north as Canada and as far east as Florida. You can find essentially the same coins minted in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru, from the early 1600s to the early 1800s. These coins circulated freely during the colonial period of the New World, both North America and South America. One of the most fascinating areas of world coin collecting is that of Spanish colonials.
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