Spain 1810-M AI 320 reales
This specimen was lot 354 in Aureo y Calicó sale 448 (Barcelona, March 2025), where it sold for 50,000 € (about US$65,315 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted, "* 1810. Joseph-Napoleon. Madrid. AI. 320 reales. Very nice. Lovely color. Extremely rare especially in this condition. EBC+ [choice extremely fine]." The "de vellon" coinage system, used 1808-50, set 20 reales = one peso instead of the traditional eight. This type was struck 1810-12 to the standard of the old eight escudos. The gold coins of Joseph's regime are scarce to rare, likely because Napoleon was extracting large quantities of gold for the French war machine.
Recorded mintage: 64,000 including assayer RS.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.875 fine gold, 35 mm diameter, this specimen 26.99 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-14729, KM 545, AC-54, Cal.Onza 1188.
- 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 Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Selección de 500 Monedas, Medallas y Billetes, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó, 2025.
Link to:
- 1810-Seg 8 maravedis
- 1810-C 2 reales
- Barcelona 1810 2½ pesetas
- 1810-M 10 reales
- 1810-M 4 reales de vellon
- 1810-V 4 reales
- 1810-C SF 8 reales
- 1810-M 8 reales
- 1810-M 20 reales
- 1810-M RS 320 reales
- 1812-M 320 reales
- Coins and currency dated 1810
- return to Spanish pre-decimal coinage (maravedis, reales and escudos)