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Spanish dollar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spanish dollars |
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| In 1794, the U.S. Mint used the Spanish silver dollar as a template for the U. S. silver dollar, so many numismatists believe that the Spanish eight real coin was the forerunner of the U.S. dollar. Spanish dollars were cut into halves, quarters, and eighths and were known as "pieces of eight." Click on any image for a closer view. | ||||||
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The Spanish dollar (also known as the "piece of eight", the "real de a ocho", or the "eight real coin") is the silver coin, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. It was legal tender in the United States until an Act of the United States Congress discontinued the practice in 1857. Through widespread use in Europe the Americas and the Far East, it became the first world currency by the late 18th century. Many existing currencies, such as the Canadian dollar, United States dollar and the Chinese yuan, as well as currencies in Latin America and the Philippines are based on the Spanish dollar.[citation needed]
Today the term peso is sometimes used interchangeably to include the historic Spanish eight real coin. This is primarily because pesos were of similar weight and diameter to the eight real coin. However, the term peso did not appear on Spanish coinage until 1864, and it is more accurate to refer to the older coinage as the eight real coin, which was also called the Spanish dollar or colloquially "a piece of eight."
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Following the introduction of the Guldengroschen in Austria in 1486, the concept of a large silver coin with high purity (sometimes known as "specie" coinage) eventually spread throughout the rest of Europe. Monetary reform in Spain brought about the introduction of an 8 reales coin in 1497.
The coin was minted with several different designs in the following centuries at various mints in Spain through to the 19th century, having gained wide acceptance beyond Spain's borders. In the 19th century, the coin's denomination was changed to 20 reales (based on 20 reales de vellon) and finally 2 escudos.
Spain's adoption of the peseta and joining the Latin Monetary Union meant the effective end for the last vestiges of the Spanish dollar in Spain itself. However, the 5 pesetas coin was slightly smaller and lighter but was also of high purity (90%) silver.
In the 1990s, commemorative 2000 pesetas coins were minted, similar in size and weight to the 8 reales and also with high finesse.
Following independence in 1821, Mexican coinage of silver reales and gold escudos followed that of Spanish lines until decimalisation and the introduction of the peso. The Mexican 8 reales coin (eventually becoming a 1 peso coin) continued to be a popular international trading coin throughout the 19th century.
After 1918, the Peso was reduced in size and finesse with further reductions in the 1940s and 1950s. However, 2 (1921), 5 (1947) and 10 (1955) peso coins were minted in the same period, similar in size and finesse to the old peso.
The Coinage Act of 1792 created the United States Mint, but the first U.S. dollars were not as popular as the Spanish dollars, which were heavier and were made of finer silver. An eight real coin nominally weighed 550.209 Spanish grains, which is 423.900 troy/avoirdupois grains (0.883125 troy ounce or 27.468 grams), .93055 fine: so contained 0.821791 troy ounce (25.560 grams) fine silver. Its weight and purity varied significantly between mints and over the centuries. In contrast, the Coinage Act of 1792 specified that the U.S. dollar would contain 371 4/16 grain (24.1 g) pure or 416 grain (27.0 g) standard silver.
The coins had a nominal value of eight reales ("royals"). The coins were often physically cut into eight "bits", or sometimes four quarters, to make smaller change. This is the origin of the colloquial name pieces of eight for the coin, and of "quarter" and "two bits" for twenty-five cents in the United States.
Prior to the American Revolution there was, due to British mercantilist policies, a chronic shortage of British currency in its colonies. Trade was often conducted using Spanish dollars. Spanish coinage was legal tender in the United States until an Act of Congress discontinued the practice in 1857. The pricing of equities on U.S. stock exchanges in 1/8 dollar denominations persisted until the New York Stock Exchange converted to pricing in sixteenths of a dollar on June 24, 1997, to be followed shortly after by decimal pricing.
Long tied to the lore of piracy, "pieces of eight" were manufactured in the Americas and transported in bulk back to Spain (to pay for wars and various other things), making them a very tempting target for seagoing pirates. Some pirates were among the richest people in the world. The Manila Galleon transported Mexican silver to Manila in Spanish Philippines, where it would be exchanged for Philippine and Chinese goods, since silver was the only foreign commodity China would take. In oriental trade, Spanish dollars were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicate that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine.
Thanks to the vast silver deposits that were found in Mexico (for example, at Taxco and Zacatecas) and Potosí in modern-day Bolivia, and to silver from Spain's possessions throughout the Americas, mints in Mexico and Peru also began to strike the coin.
Millions of Spanish dollars were minted over the course of several centuries. They were among the most widely circulating coins of the colonial period in the Americas, and were still in use in North America and in South-East Asia in the 19th century. They had a value of one dollar when circulating in the United States.
The coin is roughly equivalent to the silver thaler issued in Bohemia and elsewhere since 1517. The German name "thaler" (pronounced "tah-ler" — and "dahler" in Low German) became dollar in French and English.
In modern pop-culture and fiction, "Pieces of Eight" are most often associated with the popular notion of pirates.
Long tied to the lore of piracy, "pieces of eight" were manufactured in the Americas and transported in bulk back to Spain (to pay for wars and various other things), making them a very tempting target for seagoing pirates. Some pirates were among the richest people in the world. The Manila Galleon transported Mexican silver to Manila, where it would be exchanged for Chinese goods, since silver was the only foreign commodity China would take. In oriental trade, Spanish dollars were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicate that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine.
- In Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Long John Silver's parrot had apparently been trained to cry out, "Pieces of eight!" This use tied the coin (and parrots) to fictional depictions of pirates.
- In Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal", Reacher Gilt's parrot cries out "twelve and a half percent!" as a parody of Long John Silver's parrot.
- In Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates pieces of eight are special currency.
- In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End the Pirate Lords must meet together by presenting the "Nine Pieces of Eight", since these Pieces were used to seal the goddess Calypso in her human form by the first Brethren Court.
- "Pieces of Eight" is the name of a novelty pirate store outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland California.
- In RuneScape pieces of eight are a reward for a pirate-themed minigame called "Trouble Brewing" and can be used to purchase special pirate attire.
- In the Amiga and PC pirate-themed adventure game series, Monkey Island, the traded currency is the piece of eight.
- The Spanish dollar and the colonial shilling
- Information on Columnarios
- Cached legacy website dedicated to 8-Real Spanish Milled Dollars
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| Circulating | Argentine peso · Chilean peso · Colombian peso · Cuban convertible peso · Cuban peso · Dominican peso (peso oro) · Macanese pataca (圓) · Mexican peso · Philippine peso (piso) · Uruguayan peso |
| Obsolete | Argentine peso argentino · Argentine peso ley · Argentine peso moneda corriente · Argentine peso moneda nacional · Bolivian peso · Catalan peseta (pesseta) · Costa Rican peso · Ecuadorian peso · Equatorial Guinean peseta · Guatemalan peso · Guinea Bissau peso · Honduran peso · Japanese government-issued Philippine fiat peso · Nicaraguan peso · Paraguayan peso · Peruvian peseta · Portuguese Timorese pataca · Puerto Rican peso · Salvadoran peso · Spanish peso · Spanish peseta (pesseta, pezeta) · Venezuelan peso |
| See also | Peso sign · Maltese pataca (coin) |