![]() ![]() Then the minter would strike the die with a hammer and the face and obverse (heads and tails) of the coin would be imbedded in the soft metalĪfter the coin was struck it would be weighed again and if it were over weight, small amounts of the metal would be nipped off. After this, the metal blank was placed in coin die (or stamp) and the top coin die was placed on top of the strip. Then the coins were cut out to an approximate size. As the metal strips cooled they were beaten to desired thickness by hand. The silver and gold was melted down and then poured out into thin strips. Spanish money was originally minted by hand. It isn't entirely because of how old they are. The English 1/2 penny (pronounced hay-penny) was one of the smaller coins in common usage. Because of this the smaller British coins were often used interchangeably with the Spanish coins, 6 pence being worth slightly less than a 1/4 reale. This is between 1/4 to 1/2 their actual value in silver!Īlso by comparison there were 240 British pennies (240 pence) to £1.00 Stirling. By the time of the American revolution, Spanish or "Miller Dollars" as they became known were being exchanged at the rate of 4-8 shillings to the dollar. (at least in weight) However, the British Crown frowned up foreign currency being used in its colonies and would often give a much lower rate of exchange on official transactions. The British pound was the equivalent worth of the Colonial dollar ($) or piece of eight. Thus 20 shillings made up the British Pound (£). Ingots (bars) of gold starting at one ounce and increasing in size were also cast and stamped with a royal seal.īy comparison the British Shilling was 1/20 ounce of silver. The 8 escudo piece was also known as the Onza. Thus 8 reales equaled one ounce of silver and 8 escudos equaled approximately one ounce of gold. Each escudo was minted from 0.1209 to 0.125 ounces of gold. Doubloon was slang and was not used to officially denote any of the Spanish gold coins.Įach reale was minted to contained an approximate weight of 0.1209 to 0.125 ounces of silver. Because gold coins were not commonly used among most of society it is possible that any Spanish gold coin could have been called doubloons by the common sailor or shop keeper. According to the 2002 edition of Encyclopedia Americana the doubloon was the 8 escudo coin. Some online sources claim that the 2 escudo coin is a doubloon while others claim it to be the 4 escudo. ![]() As you can see on the chart below all Spanish coins double in value as you go from the smallest to largest denomination. Doubloon comes from the Spanish Doblón which means to double thus a doubloon is a coin of double value. There is often confusion about what constitutes a doubloon. This was especially the case in the English Speaking American colonies. Contrary to the movies and books, the 8 reale coin was not normally called a Piece of Eight it was more often referred to as a Peso, Spanish or Miller Dollar or simply Dollar. The chart below gives the common Spanish Coins used in the American Colonies, including the English Colonies in North America. The gold coins were known as escudos and also came in a several denominations with the largest of these coins, the 8 escudo, weighing approximately one ounce. It was the largest of the silver coins weighing approximately one ounce. The famous "Piece of Eight" was an 8 reale silver coin that had a distinctive "8" stamped into it. The chart below shows the denomination of each coins minted. The silver coins were known as Reales (Reals) and the gold coins - Escudos (Escudo). Pieces of Eight and Doubloons - Reales and Escudosĭuring the Golden Age of Piracy, Spain minted coins in silver and gold.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |