Spanish Colonial Currency
Used In Panamá
| The main Spanish coin, was the "8
Reales" piece. This is the famous "Piece
of Eight" and later became called the "Peso".
In 1535, the government of Spain authorized the establishment of a mint in
Mexico City. Since silver was still mined in limited quantities, the
largest denomination of coin produced was 4 Reales. A couple of years
after the establishment of the Mexico Mint, King Charles ordered the consolidation
of all of its currency. He ordered that all gold coins would
be in the denomination of Escudos. The
largest gold coin was the 8 Escudo piece, which was the same weight as the
silver peso, 27 grams and 92% pure. The silver coins were in the
denomination of Reales. This system lasted
for over 300 years, with one Escudo equaling 16 Reales. Up to the 1570's,
almost all of the coins were minted in Spain. All of the gold and
silver, was smelted into ingots and transported to Spain. In 1545, silver
was discovered in Peru, on a mountain called Potosí.
The mint was established in 1572 and they started producing the 8 Real
coin, which soon became the main coin produced in Potosí. Around 1570, the
Crown, started to allow private contractors to mint coins for use in the
colonies as the amount of silver being mined started to increase.
These coins were very roughly made. They were made by the treatment of the
silver ore with mercury to produce the metallic silver. This was melted and
poured into molds that produced long flat bars of silver. The government
assayer had the responsibility to insure that the silver bars had the
correct purity, 92 - 95 % silver. These bars were hammered by hand, by
Indian slaves, to make a crude, round, thinner bar. The tip of the bar was
cut off to produce blank slugs, for making coins. One of these
blanks, was placed between two dies, and the top die was struck with
a hammer, imprinting the images onto the coin. The government assayer
would then weigh the coin, and cut off all excess silver, making the coins
of a consistent weight. Coins that did not weigh correctly, were thrown
back into the pot, and re-melted. The thickness and circumference did not
matter, the coins were based on the weight of silver they contained. That
is why, no two Cobs were exactly the same.. "Cobs".
The word Cob, comes from the Spanish words "cabo de barra",
meaning, "end of bar". This crude appearance of
these coins, allowed unscrupulous individuals to follow the practice of shaving
pieces of the silver off the coin, making coins with less silver, than was
legal.
These Cobs were used in the Spanish Colonies, and all excess, was sent to Spain in this form. When the cobs reach Spain, they were melted down, and re-issued as perfectly machined, stamped coins. The colonies were not allowed to make gold coins. Therefore, all of the gold paned in Tierra Firme, was smelted into gold ingots, and shipped to Spain in this form. They made all of the gold coins in Spain, and the gold coins needed by the colonies was shipped back to the colonies. The real early coins produced in the New World, were made under the rule of King Charles V. These coins had on the obverse side, the coat of arms of Castile, this was the two castles and lions (Castilla y Leon). The reverse side had Charles' emblem, which were the two Pillars of Hercules and the Latin phrase "Plus Ultra". The Pillars of Hercules, was a very distinctive way of letting you know, that the coin was minted in America. |
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8 Reales , Silver 1556 (Piece of Eight) Potosi Mint Note how the back of the coin, has a cross on it. This was help, when you needed to make change, you could cut the coin in half, making two 4 Reales, or quarters, making four 2 Reales coins. |
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One Cob Silver 1753 = 8 Reales |
| Silver was extracted from the ore, and melted and poured into bars. |
| In 1728, the government of Philip V, of Spain, made some major changes in how coins were minted in the colonies. Up to then, the colonial mints has been operated by private contractors, with a license form the Crown. The government took over all of the private mints, and started running them with royal officials. All coins minted in the colonies after 1731, were machine made. This insured a uniform coin, that were perfectly round, with milled edges and weight. This prevented the practice of shaving the coins to remove some of the silver, and altering the amount of silver in each coin. The new coins, minted in the colonies, was very attractive, and had the pillars that were associated with coins minted in the colonies. The weight and purity of the Peso (Piece of Eight, Cob) was also changed from 27½ grams of 93 % pure Silver (a value established back in the 1570's for all colonial mints) to 27 grams of 92% pure Silver. These new changes, helped make the Spanish Peso, a world currency, that was used everywhere, even in the United States. |
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1 Peso
8 Reales |
DOLLAR This had the equivalency of 1 Silver Dollar, US |
 |
1/2 Peso
4 Reales |
1/2 DOLLAR This had the equivalency of 1/2 of US Dollar |
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1/4 Peso
2 Reales |
QUARTER This had the equivalency of 1/4 of US Dollar |
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1/8 Peso
1 Real Mexico Mint |
DIME This had the equivalency of 1/8 of a US Dollar |
 |
|
| The Spanish 8 Reales coin, also referred to as a Peso,
was the template for the United States coins. The US made their coins similar
to the Spanish coins in many ways. They were about the same size, both in
diameter and thickness. The obverse of the Spanish coin, is the side of
the coin with the portrait of the current king, and also contained his
name and mind date. The reverse of the coin, contained the coat of arms.
The Americans had a dislike for anything royal, so the would put other
things of the obverse. The reverse had some seal, instead of a coat of
arms. When the US started issuing its own money, the first things issued
were paper notes. Most of these notes were issued in the same
denominations as the Spanish Peso. The paper note, also had an engraved
printing of the Spanish coin, its value was equal to.
The Spanish peso, circulated through out the American Colonies, and States. It continued to be legal tender, until they were demonetized in 1857. There is a legend in the United States, about George Washington throwing a dollar across the Potomac River. If this is true, then he probably threw a Spanish Peso, across the river. |
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8 Escudo Gold 1870 33 mm This is a Mexican 8 Escudos coin |
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4 Escudos Gold 1795 25 mm |
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2 Escudos Gold 1788 22 mm |
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1 Escudo Gold 1809 20 mm |
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1/2 Escudo Gold 1765 15 mm |
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