Gold escudo

The first escudo was a gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

 introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 reales

Spanish real

The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...

. When different reales were introduced, the escudo became worth 16 reales de plata in 1642, then 16 reales de plata fuerte or 40 reales de vellón from 1737.

Coins

Gold coins were issued in denominations of ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos, with the 2 escudos coin known as the doubloon

Doubloon

The doubloon , was a two-escudo or 32-reales gold coin, weighing 6.77 grams . Doubloons were minted in Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Nueva Granada...

. Between 1809 and 1849, coins denominated as 80, 160 and 320 reales (de vellon) were issued, equivalent, in gold content and value, to the 2, 4 and 8 escudo coins.
Most were minted in Madrid, marked with a superscripted M or in Seville bearing an S below and left of the Royal Coat of Arms. The mintmaster's initials appeared on the opposite side.

Silver escudo

The second escudo was the currency of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 between 1864 and 1869. It was subdivided into 100 céntimos de escudo. The escudo replaced the real

Spanish real

The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...

at a rate of 10 reales = 1 escudo. It was itself replaced by the peseta

Spanish peseta

The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...

, at a rate of 2½ pesetas = 1 escudo, when Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union

Latin Monetary Union

The Latin Monetary Union was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies, at a time when most circulating coins were still made of gold and silver...

. The later silver escudo was worth one quarter of the earlier, gold escudo.

Coins

Copper coins were issued in denominations of ½, 1, 2½ and 5 céntimos de escudo, with silver 10, 20 and 40 céntimos de escudo, 1 and 2 escudos, and gold 2, 4 and 10 escudos. The 1 escudo was introduced in 1864, followed by the other silver and gold coins in 1865 and the copper coins in 1866. All the coins were minted until 1868, with 10 escudos also minted in 1873 during the First Republic

First Spanish Republic

The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...

.

External links

• The Colonial Coinage of Spanish America: An introduction by Daniel Frank Sedwick