Spain 1809-M AI 20 reales

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This Spanish twenty reales de vellon was struck in Madrid during the regime of José Napoleon, the French emperor's older brother. The "de vellon" coinage system, used 1808-50, set 20 reales = one peso instead of the traditional eight. This type was struck in Madrid 1808-13 and in Seville in 1812. The coins minted using that standard were not marked in any way different from the concurrent eight reales standard, a source of confusion for collectors today. It must have been a major irritant for the inhabitants of the time.

Recorded mintage: 700,000.

Specification: 27.07 g, 0.896 fine silver, .785 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-14700, KM 551.2, Dav-308.

Source:

• Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
• Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

• Barcelona 1809 quarto
• Barcelona 1809 2 quartos
• Barcelona 1809 4 quartos
• Barcelona 1809 peseta
• 1809-M 4 reales de vellon
• 1809-C SF 4 reales
• 1809-C 8 reales
• 1809-M 8 reales
• 1809-S 8 reales, imaginary bust
• 1809-S 8 reales, standard bust of Ferdinand VII
• Barcelona 1809 5 pesetas
• 1809 5 pesetas, Lerida mint
• Tarragona 1809 5 pesetas
• Guatemala 1809-NG M 8 reales
• Mexico 1809-Mo TH 8 reales
• Peru 1809-L JP 8 reales
• 1809-S 2 escudos
• 1809-M 80 reales de vellon
• 1810-M 20 reales
• 1812-M real de vellon
• 1822-M 20 reales de vellon
• Coins and currency dated 1809
• return to Spanish pre-decimal coinage (maravedis, reales and escudos)