Spain 1876-DE M peseta (76)
The early coinage of Spain is familiar: 8 reales = 1 peso; 2 pesos = 1 escudo. During the Napoleonic period, the real was devalued such that one peso = 20 reales de vellon. This was reformed in 1850 and again in 1864. In 1870, with the collapse of the monarchy, the reales, pesos and escudos were dropped in favor of centimos and pesetas conforming to the Latin Monetary Union. This silver peseta, struck in Madrid in 1876 only, matches the contemporary French silver franc down to the odd .835 alloy. This type was superseded by whiskered portrait of the doomed king in 1881.
The second specimen shown was lot 437 in Aureo y Calicó sale 232 (Barcelona, March 2011), where it sold for 107 euros (about US$177 including buyer's fee). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1876*1876. DEM. 1 peseta. Pleno brillo original. Muy bella. Acuñación Proof. Rarísima así. S/C. (Peseta of 1876, full mint luster, beautiful, a rare proof.)"
Recorded mintage: 4,427,000.
Specification: 5 g, 0.835 fine silver, .134 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-17488, KM 672, Cal. 54.
- 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.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduardo Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Selección de 500 Monedas, Medallas y Billetes, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó Subastas, 2011.
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