Lot 826
Spain. Houses of Castille & Aragon. 8 Reales, ND, Assayer D (Seville). Clemente & Cayon-2698; Cayon-2380. 27.40 grams. Ferdinand V & Isabela, 1474-1516. Crowned arms of Aragon and Castille, dividing "S" and small "o" over "VIII". Reverse: Beribboned bundle of arrows and yoke, assayer mark in field. Very well struck up, with only slight doubling evident on both sides and quite minimal flatness. An unusually neat and eye-appealing example of this often hastily struck coin. NGC graded AU-55.
The decisons of the Medina del Campo, on June 13, 1497, established a new monetary system for unified Spain, based on the Maravedi as the unit of account. Additional requirements were that each mint's product bear both the mint's mark and that of the assayer as a guarantee of quality. From this new system emerged the gold Excelente de la Granada, at about 3.40 grams, equivalent to 375 maravedis, plus the silver Real at about 3.24 grams, worth 34 marevedis, as well as its multiple, the silver Duro of 8 Reales, at around 25.92 grams. Spanish coins, such as the 8 Reales which appears in this lot, were sent along with colonists and conquistadors to the New World for temporary use until the colonies might begin producing their own coins. This wouldn't happen until 1536, with the beginning of production in Spain's first colonial mint in Mexico City. Thus the Spanish-minted coins can be considered a "bridge type" of coinage with regard to New World currency since they provided both the model and the format for much of what was struck in the middle and southern hemispheres for over two centuries. Here, then, is an important architypal issue which was replicated almost endlessly in the New World.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000.
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| Realized $3,910 |
