Mexico 1738-Mo MF real

from the Acanthite collection

from the Acanthite collection

another specimen, from the Mountain Groan Collection

This 1738 one real from the Mexico City mint is an example of the first design for pillar fractionals, where the obverse legend surrounds the periphery. This design was changed in 1742 to allow the crown to extend to the rim (see the Mexico 1742-Mo M real). Gilboy^[1] lists no varieties for this year.

Mexican hotly debate which side of the coin constitutes the obverse. Gilboy^[1] depicts the shield side as the obverse as that side bears the king's name. However, auction catalogs and dealer listings more frequently use the pillars and globes side as the obverse, as that side bears the date.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 3.38 grams, .917 fine silver, .099 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-8534, Gilboy M-1-10, KM 75.1.

Source:

• ^[1]Gilboy, Frank F., The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America: Spanish American Pillar Coinage, 1732 to 1772, Regina, Saskatchewan: Prairie Wind Publishing, 1999.
• 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.
• Yonaka, Brad, A Variety Guide to the Fractional Pillar Coinage of Mexico City, 1732-1771, Long Beach, CA: Agorocu Consulting, 2017.
• Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
• Harris, Robert P., Pillars & Portraits, San José, CA: Bonanza Press, 1968.

Link to:

• 1737 1 real
• Spain 1738-S PJ real
• 1738 2 reales
• 1738 4 reales
• 1738 8 reales
• 1739 1 real
• On the Pillar Coinage of Mexico, 1732-1771
• Coins and currency dated 1738
• return to Mexican colonial coinage, 1536-1822