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 Eight Reales, also known as the ‘piece of eight’ or the ‘Spanish dollar’, was a large silver coin struck by the Spanish Empire following the monetary reform of 1497 and was a keen rival to its other large silver contemporaries such as the Holy Roman Empire’s Reichsthaler and later Conventionsthaler, the English Crown, the Dutch Daalder, the Scandinavian Daler, and Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy Thaler. At the time of the ‘Pillar’ and ‘Bust’ Dollars of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Eight Reales were struck to a fine silver weight of 24.809g and, after 1772, 24.443g. Due to its high degree of circulation within the expansive Spanish Empire and its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics, the Eight Reales was widely recognized as the first international currency and consequently was one of the monetary denominations chosen by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales, for the Australian Money Proclamation of 1800 – Australia’s first monetary system. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colonies, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the Spanish Dollar was revalued to Five Shillings, the same as an English crown despite having less fine silver.
