Description
Spanish Empire, Viceroyalty of New Spain, Philip V of the French House of Bourbon, King of Spain in his second reign 1724-1746 AD, Silver Eight Reales (26.86g, 38.5mm), 1738 MF, Mexico City mint. Obverse: Shield of Arms of the Kingdom of Spain (1700-1868) surmounted by royal crown, assayer’s mark “MF” to left, mark of value “8” to right, legend surrounds, “PHILIP· V· D·G· HISPAN· ET IND· REX”. Reverse: Side-by-side hemispheres surmounted by royal crown and flanked by the Pillars of Hercules, each surmounted by royal crown and decorated with ribbon inscribed “PLUS VLTR”, ocean floor below, date between two mintmarks “Mo” below, legend surrounds above, “VTRAQUE VNVM”. KM-103. A most charming early date pillar dollar, a few light adjustment marks either side, less noticeable now with the deep cabinet grey patina, a few minor marks, a very collectible example, near Extremely Fine, reverse good Very Fine.
The obverse Latin legend reads “Philippus quīntus, Deī Grātiā, Hispāniae et Indiae, Rēx”, translated in English as “Philip the fifth, by the Grace of God, King of Spain and the Indies”. The reverse read “utrōque ūnum”, translated in English as “both into one”.
The silver 8 Reales, also commonly known as the ‘Spanish Dollar’ or ‘Silver Piece of 8’, is a coin minted by the Spanish Empire since 1497 and was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Due to this recognizability and high degree of circulation, the 8 Reales was one of the monetary denominations chosen by the Australian Proclamation of 1800 by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colony, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the silver 8 reales was revalued to Five Shillings, the same face value as a silver crown within Great Britain, despite having less fine silver.