In 1794, the U.S. Mint used the Spanish silver dollar as a template for the U. S. silver dollar, so many numismatists believe that the Spanish eight realcoin was the forerunner of the U.S. dollar. Spanish dollars were cut into halves, quarters, and eighths and were known as "pieces of eight." Click on any image for a closer view.
Reverse VTRAQVE VNUM M[EXICANUS] 1739
"Both (are) one, Mexico [City Mint], 1739"
Displays two hemispheres of a world map, crowned between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with the PLVS VLTR[A] motto..
Obverse PHILIP[PUS] V D[EI] G[RATIA] HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX
"Philip V, by the Grace of God, King of the Spains and the Indies"
Displays the arms of Castile and León with Granada in base and an inescutcheon of Anjou.
Reverse VTRAQVE VNUM M[EXICAUNS] 1753 M
"Both (are) one, Mexico [City Mint], 1753." Displays two hemispheres of a world map, crowned between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with the PLVS VLT[R]A motto..
Obverse FERD[INA]ND[US] VI D[EI] G[RATIA] HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX
"Ferdinand VI, by the Grace of God, King of the Spains and the Indies"
Displays the arms of Castile and León with Granada in base and an inescutcheon of Anjou.
Obverse CAROLUS III DEI GRATIA 1776
"Charles III by the Grace of God, 1776"
Right profile of Charles III in toga with laurel wreath..
Reverse HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX M[EXICANUS] 8 R[EALES] F M "King of the Spains and the Indies, Mexico [City Mint], 8 reales"
Crowned Spanish arms between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with PLVS VLTRA motto.
Obverse CAROLUS IIII DEI GRATIA 1806 "Charles IV by the Grace of God, 1806." Right profile of Charles III in soldier's dress with laurel wreath. It was under the reign of this monarch that the last series of Spanish dollars were struck before the United States Mint began the U.S. silver dollar in 1794..
Reverse HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX M[EXICANUS] 8 R[EALES] T H"King of the Spains and the Indies, Mexico [City Mint], 8 Reales." Crowned Spanish arms between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with PLVS VLTRA motto.
Obverse FERDIN[ANDUS] VII DEI GRATIA 1821"Ferdinand VII by the Grace of God, 1821." Right profile of Ferdinand VII with cloak and laurel wreath.
Reverse HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX M[EXICANUS] 8 R[EALES] I I"King of the Spains and the Indies, Mexico [City Mint], 8 reales." Crowned Spanish arms between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with PLVS VLTRA motto.
Following the introduction of the Guldengroschen in Austria in 1486, the concept of a large silver coin with high purity (sometimes known as "specie" coinage) eventually spread throughout the rest of Europe. Monetary reform in Spain brought about the introduction of an 8 reales coin in 1497. The coin was minted with several different designs in the following centuries at various mints in Spain through to the 19th century, having gained wide acceptance beyond Spain's borders. In the 19th century, the coin's denomination was changed to 20 reales (based on 20 reales de vellon) and finally 2 escudos. Spain's adoption of the peseta and joining the Latin Monetary Union meant the effective end for the last vestiges of the Spanish dollar in Spain itself. However, the 5 pesetas coin was slightly smaller and lighter but was also of high purity (90%) silver. In the 1990s, commemorative 2000 pesetas coins were minted, similar in size and weight to the 8 reales and also with high finesse.
Mexico
Following independence in 1821, Mexican coinage of silver reales and gold escudos followed that of Spanish lines until decimalisation and the introduction of the peso. The Mexican 8 reales coin (eventually becoming a 1 peso coin) continued to be a popular international trading coin throughout the 19th century. After 1918, the Peso was reduced in size and finesse with further reductions in the 1940s and 1950s. However, 2 (1921), 5 (1947) and 10 (1955) peso coins were minted in the same period, similar in size and finesse to the old peso.
United States
The Coinage Act of 1792 created the United States Mint, but the first U.S. dollars were not as popular as the Spanish dollars, which were heavier and were made of finer silver. An eight real coin nominally weighed 550.209 Spanish grains, which is 423.900 troy/avoirdupois grains (0.883125 troy ounce or 27.468 grams), .93055 fine: so contained 0.821791 troy ounce (25.560 grams) fine silver. Its weight and purity varied significantly between mints and over the centuries. In contrast, the Coinage Act of 1792 specified that the U.S. dollar would contain 371 4/16 grain (24.1 g) pure or 416 grain (27.0 g) standard silver. The coins had a nominal value of eight reales ("royals"). The coins were often physically cut into eight "bits", or sometimes four quarters, to make smaller change. This is the origin of the colloquial name pieces of eight for the coin, and of "quarter" and "two bits" for twenty-five cents in the United States. Prior to the American Revolution there was, due to British mercantilist policies, a chronic shortage of British currency in its colonies. Trade was often conducted using Spanish dollars. Spanish coinage was legal tender in the United States until an Act of Congress discontinued the practice in 1857. The pricing of equities on U.S. stock exchanges in 1/8 dollar denominations persisted until the New York Stock Exchange converted to pricing in sixteenths of a dollar on June 24, 1997, to be followed shortly after by decimal pricing. Long tied to the lore of piracy, "pieces of eight" were manufactured in the Americas and transported in bulk back to Spain (to pay for wars and various other things), making them a very tempting target for seagoing pirates. Some pirates were among the richest people in the world. The Manila Galleon transported Mexican silver to Manila in Spanish Philippines, where it would be exchanged for Philippine and Chinese goods, since silver was the only foreign commodity China would take. In oriental trade, Spanish dollars were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicate that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine. Thanks to the vast silver deposits that were found in Mexico (for example, at Taxco and Zacatecas) and Potosí in modern-day Bolivia, and to silver from Spain's possessions throughout the Americas, mints in Mexico and Peru also began to strike the coin. Millions of Spanish dollars were minted over the course of several centuries. They were among the most widely circulating coins of the colonial period in the Americas, and were still in use in North America and in South-East Asia in the 19th century. They had a value of one dollar when circulating in the United States. The coin is roughly equivalent to the silver thaler issued in Bohemia and elsewhere since 1517. The German name "thaler" (pronounced "tah-ler" — and "dahler" in Low German) became dollar in French and English.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End the Pirate Lords must meet together by presenting the "Nine Pieces of Eight", since these Pieces were used to seal the goddess Calypso in her human form by the first Brethren Court.
in Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle numismatics, gold and Pieces of eight are an integral part of the plot. In the second volume The Confusion there is also a subtle reference to the fact that a Piece of eight is composed of 8 "bits" (it is thus a sort of "byte" and an unit of information transfer).
