This listing is for the photographed 1774 Spanish One Real. This coin is worn and the price is reflective. Low cost option for 1700's Silver coins!
In 1772 Charles III of Spain adopted new coin designs with the royal profile, more difficult to counterfeit, and his Pragmatic of May 29, 1772 ordered all money in circulation in Spain and the Indies to be re-coined at the same weight and fineness, but he secretly instructed the mints to lower the fineness of national gold from 22 carats to 21⅝ and of national silver from 0·91667 to 0·90278.
These coins are known as the "portrait" or "modified pillar" type in English, and as busto in Spanish. (English head real was applied to the provincial silver real coined in Spain, which was 20% lighter.) Obv.: bust of the king, the rim inscribed CAROLUS III DEI GRATIA with the date. Rev.: two columns (pillars of Hercules) with the motto PLUS VLTRA on banners, but the two orbs between the columns were replaced with the crowned shield of Leon and Castile, the rim inscribed HISPAN. ET IND. REX, then the mintmark, value, and assayer's initials. The corded (tulip) edge of the eight reales was replaced with an edge design of alternating circles and rectangles.
1776 Spanish Potosi 1/2 Real Coin - Charles III Bolivia Spanish Silver Colonial Era Coin - Revolutionary War Era Coin - 1776 Modified Pillar