When Spanish coins were legal tender in the US
topstuf
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It's been my understanding that the 8 Real or "piece of eight" traded as a dollar.
What about Spanish gold?
I read that it contained 16 dollars in trade, but haven't read how it actually worked.
If someone paid for a $10 purchase with an 8 Escudo piece, did he get $6 in change or shafted a buck?
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I have been told that money European gold coins came into the U.S. when immigrants came in. They were used primarily for bank reserves. I have read a couple of books on gold gold coins and this was mentioned I would imagine they were either used to purchase imports or melted as feed stock for the mints.
Edit error? Proof!
In early America transactions would not have been denominated in dollar but in gold and silver or in the reserve currency of the world the Spanish Milled Dollar ( 8 Reales).
Merchants would have tables such as this to work fluidly between coins from various countries with most tables based on Issac Newtons table from the Royal Mint in London. Frequently seen would be the Spanish Milled coins, French Ecu's, Portuguese gold (especially the 4000R Moidres and and 6400R Half Joes) which were the most common circulating gold coins of the period.
Smaller denominations of coinage were more difficult with some British regal and most no-regal coins circulated. Many states produced coppers and Spanish milled coins were cut to make "bits" to serve in place of smaller coins. The Spanish 2 Reales or Pistareen was a commonly seen silver coin up and down the coast.
If you are interested in this collecting area I have worked with PCGS to create a registry set on important world coins from early America: https://pcgs.com/SetRegistry/multi-country/multi-country-type-sets/world-coins-circulating-early-america-type-set-circulation-strikes-1575-1826/6333
The set includes the following, currently at 27 coins, 3 pages of 9 coins in the PCGS Digital Album:
Spanish Milled Silver: 1/2R, 1R, 2R, 4R, and 8R. These coins would have been a staple in every day life with the larger 8R serving in trade and the smaller 1/2R to 2R being common in everyday commerce. The series comes in two major divisions, Pillar style depicting the Pillars of Hercules, and the Portrait style which depicts one of three monarchs, Charles III, Charles IV, and Ferdinand VII. An example of each of the Pillar denominations and one of each denomination of Portrait, from any monarch, is included in the set.
Spanish Milled Gold: The gold of the Spanish Colonial mints largely came from Colombia, Chile and Mexico. Spanish gold was in high demand throughout the world and would have circulated heavily in Colonial America. An example of each denomination is included in the set.
The Spanish 2 Reales or Pistareen: The Spanish 2 Reales, commonly called the pistareen circulated extensively in Colonial America. Paper money was often denominated in pistareens giving weight to its place in Colonial times.
Portuguese/Brazilian 4000R (Moidores) and 6400R: The Portuguese 4000R and 6400R were also commonly circulating gold piece and represent Portugal in the the set.
Netherlands Ducat: The Ducat was a common gold coin used in trade with the Netherlands. It was minted from the 1500's through to present time.
Dutch 1/2 Daalder and Lion Daalder: The New Netherlands colony, present day New York, saw these two dutch denominations freely trade not just in the Dutch colony but throughout the region with hoards found in Maine and dug examples as far south as Maryland.
French Sou Marques: A billon coin (25% silver, 75% copper) were struck in France for the colonies in Canada to alleviate the shortage of circulating coinage. Examples of this issue frequently circulated in Canada and New England.
French Louis D'Or: The standard gold coin from France and certainly present in Colonial America. The wreck of the Le Chameau has special place in colonial times with the sinking of the ship in 1725 and eventual recovery in 1965.
French Ecu: This crown sized coin would have been the French comparable to the Pillar dollar or Lion Daalder in trade.
1749 British Farthing and Halfpenny: While farthings and halfpennies of various dates would have circulated in Colonial times, the 1749 date is special. In 1749 a large shipment of farthings and halfpennies, equal to roughly 1/3rd of the mintage, arrived in Boston on the ship the Mermaid in payment to colonists for the Lewisburg expedition of Cape Breton Island. They are the only dated issues officially authorized by the crown to circulate in America.
British Guinea: Like the Ducat and Louis D'Or, the British Guinea was the representative gold coin from Britain.
Latin American Collection
Awesome research, Boosibri - thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks Boosibri. That was an experience and now bookmarked.
Great info, thanks for sharing it with us here
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@Boosibri ...Thank you for a very informative post....Have copied for my files. Cheers, RickO
Spanish Colonial silver was legal tender in the US until the law of 1857. The Spanish Colonial silver remaining in circulation after the law of 1853, which caused the withdrawal or exportation of much of the Spanish Colonial coins, was generally worn to the extreme. It was a problem that merchants would not accept it at “face value”, but only at bullion. The issuance of the Flying Eagle cent and the seniorage it afforded allowed the government to redeem the worn Spanish Colonial pieces at an overvalued rate and still show a profit. This brought silver into the mint for recoinage into our native Liberty Seated coins and expedited the circulation of the new small cents.
To learn more- MUCH more about the coinage laws and their effect on the economy of the US get a copy of Fractional Money by Neil Carothers and read it a few times!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Could I read it without seeing the government as a cheater?
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Cool set concept! I'd like to see an 8 Escudos that qualifies for the 2 point "Red" bonus, though.
I'm happy with it just being gold.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
You could do the set in prime numbers @messydesk
Latin American Collection
Depends on how rose colored your glasses are
Seriously, EVERYONE collecting US coins from the early 20th century or before should read this book. The older the coins you collect the more valuable this book becomes. It answers many questions about the coins themselves from an economic standpoint. Some of the charts in the appendix are a recurring source of important information.
Again, if you don’t own this book get one NOW!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Some are in my Prime Number set already. The 1749 coppers won't work, though. It looks like they have to add some valid coins to the slots available. I had two pillar 4R and one pillar 8R not come up as eligible for the set.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Thanks for the advice. Honestly, never heard of this book before, so I checked it out, then ordered it. Found a decent price on a hardcover.
Ronyahski, and anyone else ordering one, it is not an easy read. Be prepared to slog through it a couple times. The effort will be well rewarded.
One of my favorite things in the book is a chart near the end showing the comparative values of paper, silver and gold around the civil war era.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
My stab at briefly describing gold coinage in commerce:
In 1792 the U.S. set the value of gold relative to silver at 15:1, which slightly overvalued silver and undervalued gold. As a result, over the succeeding years silver coins traded hands much more readily, putting the U.S. on a de facto silver standard for day to day commerce. Aided by a healthy influx supply of silver imported from Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, where the ratio was 16:1, much gold coin found their way outside the country where they were melted down. Thus, up through 1834, Spanish gold would generally not flow into the U.S., as it would lose $1 per 16.
The Coinage Act of 1834 in June 1834 changed the ratio to 16:1. Other legislation enacted the same day gave Spanish dollars of the former Spanish colonies the same legal-tender status of the Spanish silver.
Mintage of U.S. gold coins increased greatly after 1834, and U.S gold coins enjoyed some level of circulation. During the 1830's, most of the supply of gold used in the making of U.S. gold came from the French Spoliation claims in the form of French gold coins and bullion. Additional amounts came from the melting of old tenor U.S. gold.
As a result of President Jackson's successful effort to neuter the Second Bank of the U.S., the Specie Circular executive order, and the Coinage Act of 1837 ( all in the mid 1830's), one could argue that Jackson's efforts to provide a bimetallic monetary system backfired, and thereafter promissory notes and state bank notes became the main exchange medium for general commerce.
What gold that did circulate for the next couple of decades was mostly foreign coins, at least on the east coast. The west coast gold rush helped supply gold for commerce in that part of the country.
Circulating specie dried up as the Civil War neared.
As oldgoldlover pointed out, contemporaneous documents exist to support the notion that emigrants brought significant amounts of European gold into the country. Also, import duties were required to be paid in specie. The duties, paid in non-U.S. gold, went on deposit in the U.S. banks. Not sure how much of that gold was released into circulation versus held as bank reserves, exported back out of the country, or sent to the U.S. mint to be melted into U.S. coinage.
The Southern Confederate States had to deal with foreign gold coins, too.
From The Statutes at Large of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, from the Institution of the Government, February 8, 1861, to its Termination, February 18, 1862, Inclusive by James M. Matthews, editor:
A Mexican Doubloon:
Mexico, Eight Escudos 1862, Durango Mint, Hand on Book style
Gold, 37mm, 26.95gm
Not many Southerners would have traded gold coins for Confederate money.
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I remember reading in my youth that Spanish-American silver Reale coins were still legal tender at a U.S. Post Office at a reduced rate, 10 cents U.S. per Reale. This was repealed sometime about 20-30 years ago before I got around to testing it at my local Post Office.
Does anybody know when this loophole was repealed? Got a reference to the law or whatever did it?
I think it was repealed when a certain post office window clerk who collected Reales retired.
I wonder how they handled all people from different countries using Apple Pay back then?
Of the subject a bit
Why do people said "go to the DARK SIDE" when you go to the World coin?
Post for reference.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/3071063
“Dark Side = everything numismatic that ain't US coins.
we invented the term "Darkside" since most US collectors know more about the darkside of the moon than non-US coins.image”
Sometimes Canadian coins are referred as "light side" coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
There is an excellent book on foreign coins that the US governmemt made legal tender in the United States.
Raphael Solomon and Oscar Schilke, America's Foreign Coins, published in 1964.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
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