"Pieces of eight" redirects here. For other uses, see Pieces of Eight (disambiguation).
Silver dollar of the Catholic Monarchs, after 1497
Reverse FERNANDVS ET ELISABET DEI GR[ATIA] "Ferdinand and Elisabeth, by the Grace of God" Displays the arms of the Catholic Monarchs post 1492, with Granada in base. Letter S on the left is the sign of the mint of Seville and VIII on the right i.e. eight in roman numerals.
Obverse REX ET REGINA CASTELE LEGIONIS A[RAGONIS] "King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon…" Displays the personal emblems of the monarchs: Isabella's yoke and Ferdinand's arrows.
Silver dollar of Philip V of Spain, 1739
Reverse VTRAQUE VNUM M[EXICO] 1739 "Both (are) one, Mexico [City Mint], 1739" Displays two hemispheres of a world map, crowned between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with the PLUS 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.
Silver dollar of Ferdinand VI of Spain, 1753
Reverse VTRAQUE VNUM M[EXICO] 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 PLUS 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.
Silver dollar of King Charles IV of Spain, 1806
Obverse CAROLUS IIII DEI GRATIA 1806 "Charles IV by the Grace of God, 1806." Right profile of Charles IV in soldier's dress with laurel wreath. It was under the reign of this monarch that the United States Mint began the U.S. silver dollar in 1794.
Reverse HISPAN[IARUM] ET IND[IARUM] REX M[EXICO] 8 R[EALES] T H"King of the Spains and the Indies, Mexico [City Mint], 8 Reales." Crowned Spanish coat of arms between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with PLVS VLTRA motto
Silver dollar of Ferdinand VII of Spain, 1821
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[EXICO] 8 R[EALES] I I"King of the Spains and the Indies, Mexico [City Mint], 8 reales." Crowned Spanish coat of arms between the Pillars of Hercules adorned with PLVS VLTRA motto
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (Spanish: real de a ocho, dólar, peso duro, peso fuerte or peso), is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver. It was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Some countries countermarked the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency.[1]
Because the Spanish dollar was widely used in Europe, America, and the Far East, it became the first world currency by the 16th century.[2][3][4]
The Spanish dollar was the coin upon which the original United States dollar was based (at 0.7735 troy ounces or 24.06 grams), and it remained legal tender in the United States until the Coinage Act of 1857. Many other currencies around the world, such as the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan, were initially based on the Spanish dollar and other 8-real coins.[5] Most theories trace the origin of the "$" symbol, which originally had two vertical bars, to the pillars of Hercules wrapped in ribbons that appear on the reverse side of the Spanish dollar.[6]
The term peso was used in Spanish to refer to this denomination, and it became the basis for many of the currencies in the former Spanish colonies, including the Argentine, Bolivian, Chilean, Colombian, Costa Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Honduran, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Paraguayan, Philippine, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Salvadoran, Uruguayan, and Venezuelan pesos. Of these, "peso" remains the name of the official currency in the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.
^"Dissemination of Hispanic-American coinage". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
^Woodcock, Ray (1 May 2009). Globalization from Genesis to Geneva: A Confluence of Humanity. Trafford Publishing. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1-4251-8853-5. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
^Thomas J. Osborne (29 November 2012). Pacific Eldorado: A History of Greater California. John Wiley & Sons. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-118-29217-4. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
^Davies, Roy. "Origin and history of the world dollar and dollar sign". Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
^Babones, Salvatore (30 April 2017). "'The Silver Way' Explains How the Old Mexican Dollar Changed the World". The National Interest. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
^Cordingly, David (1996). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates. Random House. p. 36. ISBN 9780679425601.
The Spanishdollar, also known as the piece of eight (Spanish: real de a ocho, dólar, peso duro, peso fuerte or peso), is a silver coin of approximately...
rate of 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence. Spain: the Spanishdollar was used from 1497 to 1868. It is closely related to the dollars (Spanishdollar was used...
the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents...
, British America and Britain, referring to the Spanish American peso, also known as "Spanishdollar" or "piece of eight" in British America. Those coins...
of Spain. The current currency since 2002 is the Euro. Dobla Columnarios Doubloon Picayune SpanishdollarSpanish euro coins Currency of Spanish America...
from the Spanish American silver dollar, which China imported in large quantities from Spanish America through Spanish Philippines in the Manila-Acapulco...
silver eight-real Spanishdollar (Real de a 8) or peso which was used throughout Europe, America and Asia during the height of the Spanish Empire. The first...
The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; French: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard...
large, silver coin, such as the old Spanishdollar, which had a diameter of 38–40 mm. Other names for the sand dollar include sand cakes, pansy shells,...
Silver dollar is a dollar coin made of silver or any white metal. See: SpanishdollarDollar coin (United States) Dollar (Hong Kong coin) Canadian silver...
dollar began with moves by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America to establish a national currency based on the Spanish silver dollar,...
dollar, it has existed since 1965, and it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $ or, alternatively, EC$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated...
sterling system. The Spanishdollar was already prevalent throughout the West Indies in general, and from 1839, the Spanishdollar unit operated in British...
successful revolt of the Spanish colonies in America had cut off the supply of silver coin by 1820. By 1825 "...the Spanishdollar, the universal coin of...
money in Jamaica was Spanish copper coins called maravedíes. This relates to the fact that for nearly four hundred years Spanishdollars, known as pieces...
centuries, the use of silver Spanishdollars or eight-real coins, also known as "pieces of eight" extended from the Spanish territories in the Americas...
From 1497, the Spanish government started to mint a large silver coin that, through wide circulation, became known as the Spanishdollar. It was also known...
sterling and the Spanishdollar at $1 = 4s 4d. This exchange rate was supposed to be based on the value of the silver in the Spanishdollars as compared to...
was minted in 1794 and 1795; its size and weight were based on the Spanishdollar, which was popular in trade throughout the Americas. In 1791, following...
coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight-real piece, known in English as the Spanishdollar, becoming an international standard...
be from 10 and 5 céntimo coins of the Spanish peseta, known as the perra gorda and perra chica. The Spanishdollar or silver peso worth eight reales was...
Colonial Era were, most often, of Spanish and Portuguese origin. For most of the 17th and 18th century, the Spanishdollar was one of the few widely accepted...
U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar. By 1895, the circumstances had changed to the extent that there was now a dearth of Spanish/Mexican dollars and the...
Eastern Caribbean territories in general. The first currency used was the Spanishdollar, also known as "pieces of eight", which began circulating in the 16th...
sterling coinage legal tender in the colonies at the specified rate of 1 Spanishdollar to 4 shillings, 4 pence sterling. As the sterling silver coins were...
currency used in the East Indies was the Spanishdollar, including issues both from Spain and from the new world Spanish colonies, which for the East Indies...
modern central banking (as opposed to the Spanishdollar stabilized through American mine output and Spanish fiat) and which can be considered as the precursor...
silver coins minted in Habsburg Spain was the eight real coin, later also known as peso and in English as the "Spanishdollar". The first large silver coin...
Global Information
