The silverreal (Spanish:real de plata) was the currency of theSpanish colonies in America and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at twobillon reales (reales de vellón) or sixty-eightmaravedíes. Goldescudos (worth 16 reales) were also issued. The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight-real piece, known in English as theSpanish dollar, becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, theUnited States dollar. A reform in 1737 set the silver real at two and half billon reales (reales de vellón) or eighty-five maravedís. This coin, called thereal de plata fuerte, became the new standard, issued as coins until the early 19th century. The gold escudo was worth 16reales de plata fuerte.
Coins were produced at mints inBogotá,Caracas,Guatemala City,Lima,Mexico City,Popayán,Potosí,Santo Domingo andSantiago. For details, see the:
After the independence of Spain's colonies, the real was replaced by currencies also denominated inreales andescudos, including theArgentine real,Central American Republic real,Ecuadorian real,Honduran real,Paraguayan real andSanto Domingo real.
From 1572 to 1773 Spanish colonial silver coins werecobs. Initially cut from a silver bar and hammer struck on a coin die, they were accurate in weight, though sometimes debased in precious metal content. However unlike machined coins, they were often irregular in shape, especially if a too-thick coin was clipped by the mint to reach the proper weight. After 1732 similar, but better shaped cobs were produced on screw presses. Cob denominations were1⁄2, 1, 2, 4, and 8reales. When circulating inNew England the larger coins might be cut to give intermediate values; since a real was nicknamed a "bit", the expression "two bits" came to mean aquarter dollar.[2]
Unlike in Spain, the copper coins were generally not struck by the colonial mints. Most issued silver coins in denominations of1⁄4,1⁄2, 1, 2, 4 and 8reales and gold coins for1⁄2, 1, 2, 4 and 8escudos. Exceptions were the Santo Domingo mint, which did strike maravedíes in the sixteenth century and theCaracas mint which issued fraction of real copper coins in the early nineteenth century to facilitate commerce.
Columnarios aresilver coins that wereminted bySpain from 1732 to 1773 throughout itsNew World colonies. While the majority of columnarios were struck inMexico, smaller mints existed inGuatemala;Lima, Peru;Santiago, Chile;Potosí, Bolivia; andColombia. The base denomination is an 8 reales coin (aka Piece of eight orSpanish dollar). Other minor denominations included 4 reales, 2 reales, 1 real, and 1/2 real. The 8 reales coin is the predecessor to theAmerican dollar. Before theUnited States Mint was in production, columnarios circulated, along with other coinage, in the US colonies, as legal tender until the middle of the 19th century.
Prior to the columnario, Spanish coins were hammer struck. These rather crude looking coins were calledcobs. Clipping was a problem with cobs as it was easy to shave small amounts of silver from their edges, and although this action was punishable by death, it was still a widespread occurrence. The columnario, unlike the odd-shaped cob, is a round coin with milled edges which makes clipping detectable and less likely to occur.
The design of the columnario consists on the reverse of two worlds — representing the new world and old world — with a royal crown above. Below are the waves of the sea that separate the worlds and on the left and right are columns (hence the name "columnarios") representing thePillars of Hercules adorned with crowns and wrapped with a banner spelling "PLUS ULTRA", meaning "more beyond". The reverse also has the letters "VTRAQUE VNUM", referring to theOld andNew Worlds, "Both are One", and the date at the bottom, with mint marks on both sides.
The obverse features the crown's name followed by "D G HISPAN ET IND REX", meaning, "By the Grace of God, King ofSpain and the Indies." Theassayer's mark is on the left and the denomination on the right of a large Spanish shield which is adorned with a royal crown atop. Various florets, rosettes, stops, and other features are used to separate features.
The edge has a repeatinglaurel leaf design which is very difficult to counterfeit and is often used for authentication purposes.
